{"date":"2024-03-21","type":"CBOC","videoId":"icioqpwTI18","audioDuration":8848,"speakers":{},"utterances":[{"start":6294,"end":27166,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, 6 o'clock. Well, welcome everyone to, uh, this evening's, uh, Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee meeting. I see a quorum of members, but let's start out with a, uh, roll call. Olivia, do you want to do that for us, please? Present. Jennifer Gilliam."},{"start":27728,"end":29862,"speaker":"B","text":"Present. Carl Landers."},{"start":30776,"end":35317,"speaker":"C","text":"Here. Present. Jacqueline Rodriguez-Muñoz."},{"start":37274,"end":37852,"speaker":"A","text":"And Hugo Aquino."},{"start":38718,"end":38863,"speaker":"D","text":"Here."},{"start":42826,"end":86205,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, um, excellent. So, um, just as a note for the record, we've had two resignations from the committee since we last met. So Rodney Leach and Cameron Hoffman are both unable to continue to serve. So we have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6— we have 7 members of the committee currently, which I think is the minimum amount required in the bylaws, if I recall correctly. And a quorum is 4, and we have a quorum established. And we do have some agenda items later on in the agenda to talk about filling out the committee."},{"start":86575,"end":86896,"speaker":"D","text":"So—"},{"start":86896,"end":167851,"speaker":"A","text":"But I wanted to welcome everyone to the meeting. We had intended this meeting to be in February, but due to scheduling conflicts, we are here in March. And one of the things we'll want to do is try and set the rest of the year's meetings before we leave this evening. So hopefully everyone can get them on their calendars and we can stick to the schedule. So going into the agenda, item 2, 2.1, does anyone on the committee have any suggested changes to tonight's agenda? No changes. Okay. Rick, you suggested that we combine 5.8 and 5.10, or at least put them together because they both are about the composition of the committee. Um, so that's fine. So why don't we just swap, um, 5.9 after 5.10? So we'll do the 5.8 and 5.10 about the, the membership, and then we can do the website changes if there's anything to cover there. Uh, Carl? Okay, with that then, do we have a motion to approve the agenda for this evening? Second."},{"start":168253,"end":168558,"speaker":"E","text":"Second."},{"start":169858,"end":200753,"speaker":"A","text":"Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? All right, perfect. So the agenda is as we just changed. Item 3 on the agenda is the public comment section of the agenda. We welcome any comment from the public. And do we have anyone who wants to speak? Chris would like to speak, and then we can open it up for anyone on Zoom who would like— don't forget to unmute your— oh, there we go. Yep."},{"start":200753,"end":342163,"speaker":"F","text":"Thank you, CBOC members. I had two items. One is regarding workforce housing. So as you know, independent of whether people think that's a good idea or not for the school district to pursue workforce housing, The, the issue of whether or not you can use Proposition 39 bond money, which, by the way, Proposition 39 was passed by voters, and it's called Smaller Classes, Safer Schools, and Financial Accountability Act. So it's about classrooms, classrooms, classrooms. It says that, I think, 18 times in the, in the statute or in the, in the proposition that voters— so it's, and it's for school facilities and no other purpose. And it, and what it did is allow a lower approval threshold for the voters, 55% instead of two-thirds. And so the question is, is it legal to be using that money, Proposition 39 bond money, for school facilities— excuse me, for workforce housing? And there are attorneys that say— I can tell you I've talked to them— that take that on contingency, and it's not legal, right? So I've, I've met one-on-one with John Niblin, who's the county council. He agrees that it's— that you can't— just because it's on the bond project list doesn't make it legal. That's not a law. And there's no answers in terms of what law allows, authorizes the use of Prop 39 bond money. The law, Penal Code 424, 4B says expenditures must be authorized by law, and I'm waiting for any law that authorizes it. The Teacher Housing Act of 2016 allows workforce housing in school districts to do it, but it doesn't say how it can be done. And certainly you can do it through certificates of participation, Prop 46 bonds, which requires two-thirds vote, um, general fund grants. All that stuff is totally fine, but Prop 39 is not. And I also met, uh, talked to Senator Josh Becker, No answers there either. So nobody's got any laws. And so I just caution you to tread carefully. I have a call into Sobrato. I want to make sure they know about this because the last thing you want to do is waste taxpayer money. And I think the CBOC has a really pivotal role in making sure this is the case. Nobody's— and I'm just looking for a law. And if there is a law, then bombs away, right? So that's great. So the second topic, and I've sent two messages to Janet Lawson and Mike Wells about this and also brought it up yesterday at the Board of Trustees meeting. So I don't know if you can indulge me. It'll be 90 seconds, Carl. I know I'm going a little over."},{"start":342163,"end":343560,"speaker":"A","text":"Yeah, there's nobody else lined up."},{"start":343560,"end":547273,"speaker":"F","text":"So this is the only, my only topic. So 2 things I think that are important for the CBOC to consider. One is that the Redwood City School District, and they both have to do with not wasting Measure S bond money, okay, or school bond money. So Redwood City School District floated $90 million of Measure S bond money almost 9 months ago. All those bonds were floated at an interest rate of 4.2%, that tranche of, of Series A bond money. And so that, when you're paying 4.2% interest and you haven't used the money for 9 months, that's my $3.8 million of interest expense that's been incurred. So none of that money, I don't believe any of the money's been spent. Maybe Rick or somebody can correct that if I'm wrong, but I don't— I haven't heard anything about any of that money being spent. And so to the extent that's true, that's like taking out a car loan, you know, getting your money for your car loan, paying the interest rate, and then not having the use of the car, right? So the voters expect that they're going to get the benefit of these school facilities and they're going to be built. You don't want to take out the loan before you need the money, right? So that's very much an important consideration, and I think the taxpayers should know about that. That's not— that's obviously not financially prudent. Taking out— so you float bonds, it's just-in-time. You float the bonds or take out the loan effectively when you need the money and not before then. The second point is that the interest rate— and I brought this up multiple times as well, and there's no answer from the district. And so I hope that you will let the, the public know this in your annual report also. If, if there's no— whatever, if there's no answer, just say there's— the district refuses to answer. So the bonds were floated, and I gave warning of this in February, well before the bonds were floated, that it should be done through a competitive auction process, not not a negotiated sale, right? So when you, you work out a deal with institutional investors in advance, you never get as good a deal as if you do a competitive sale. So what happens is, you know, K&N Finance, the municipal bond advisor, worked out a deal with institutional investors, and these bonds that, that we the taxpayers pay, pay at 4.2% interest. Within less than 2 weeks, because I checked on Emma, the bond platform, and I have friends at major bond firms, um, they, they, they, they were 3.8% within less than 2 weeks later. So that's 40 basis points. That's millions of dollars. And unlike Mike Wells, who, who, uh, at one of the board meetings said, oh, we can refinance the bonds— no, you cannot in general refinance bonds prior to a 10-year call period. It's called bond refunding. But you cannot because of the Trump tax law done in 2018. So any bonds that were floated after 2018 you're stuck with that rate pretty much for 10 years unless bonds collapse. And I've confirmed that with 2 managing partners at 2 major bond funds. So they're not refinancable prior to 10 years. So we're stuck with this high interest rate. And my point is, I would urge the district and whatever you can do to encourage them to do a competitive auction, just like you would sell something on eBay at an auction. You'll get a better deal than if you do a, you know, fixed price negotiated sale. So those 2 things are both indicative of millions of dollars of money that's been wasted. It doesn't help kids, it hurts kids, and it hurts the taxpayers. So, um, I would urge you to please include those in your report and hopefully get answers to the district. And if there's something I'm missing, I'm all ears."},{"start":547562,"end":547835,"speaker":"G","text":"Thank you."},{"start":549328,"end":626179,"speaker":"A","text":"Thank you. Anyone on Zoom want to, uh, participate in public comment? No questions there or hand raises. Okay, let's move into Section 4 of the agenda. This is the action section of the agenda, and we do take public comment on any of these items prior to voting. So the first item, 4.1, is the approval of last meeting's minutes from November 14th. Any discussion on the minutes from the last meeting? I have a question. Can you vote to approve if you were not there? I don't know, we lost our parliamentarian. We're gonna say yes. You could abstain. Yes, that's true. Any public comment on the minutes from last time? Motion to approve?"},{"start":628122,"end":629310,"speaker":"H","text":"Second?"},{"start":631221,"end":737255,"speaker":"A","text":"Second. Okay, all in favor of approving the minutes from November Aye. Any abstain? 1 abstention. And any opposed? Okay, thank you. Okay, item 4.2. There was a request at the last meeting to put on the agenda for this meeting a discussion and any action on removing members of the committee for excessive absences per our bylaws, Section 3.3. So we've included in here an attendance count for the last— for the meetings for this fiscal year. When the agenda was produced, we knew about Rodney's resignation, so he's marked there. Uh, Cameron, you can mark as resigned as well. Um, is there any discussion on the committee members', um, attendance at meetings? Well, it's written in our bylaws, right? A certain number— I don't think, uh, when we clarified the bylaws— I don't have them handy. Let me see if I can get them what the exact language is here, but it does— it just says that a member can bring a motion to remove someone for not attending, but it doesn't stipulate any number of— as I recall, um, any particular number. Does anyone have the bylaws handy?"},{"start":739212,"end":739843,"speaker":"C","text":"Yeah, I have."},{"start":740506,"end":743545,"speaker":"A","text":"Can you read the section, if you wouldn't mind? Carl."},{"start":758628,"end":782348,"speaker":"C","text":"Okay, so under Section 3.3, uh, B, any committee member may request that the removal of another committee member be placed on the agenda for the committee's next meeting. And may at that meeting introduce a motion to remove said member from the committee for excessive absences and/or violating, violating these bylaws. Specific cause may be cited in the meeting agenda and motion for removal."},{"start":782348,"end":795868,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, thank you. So there is no specific number, or, um, so does anyone want to bring a motion to remove someone from the committee?"},{"start":798290,"end":798562,"speaker":"B","text":"Motion."},{"start":798627,"end":837988,"speaker":"A","text":"But there's a question, I guess, about Jacqueline. She's in her, her term is up. I believe so. Yes. So if you look ahead at agenda item 5.10, you can see that we do have, well, for 2 now, because we have 2 resignations from that list, Cameron and Rodney. So Carolyn and Jacqueline are up for renewal, if you will, at the end of June. So Um, as I recall, the process is these— uh, is it right, Rick? These go in front of the board to be approved for a new term? Okay, if they're willing. If they're willing."},{"start":838405,"end":857492,"speaker":"H","text":"Yeah, we reached out to these two members. I mean, have, have they been reached out to find out why they haven't been attending? Are there extenuating circumstances? Do they know they can attend on Zoom, or can they participate on Zoom without a legal—"},{"start":857492,"end":925031,"speaker":"A","text":"We have not been allowing Zoom participation as a— no one is asked to participate by Zoom, just since there is Brown Act. I think Rick gave me some guidance that on an exceptional basis, 1 or 2 meetings you could attend by Zoom. But first off, Carolyn is here, so we can, we can just talk to her directly. The other one is Jacqueline, who's not here. So she's got 3 absences in a row. And the next meeting of the committee will be after June 30th, I believe. Is that correct or no? We have one before. That's right, for the first quarter review. So we will have another meeting before Carolyn and Jacqueline go— need to be renewed, if you will, in front of the board. So I don't know if that helps answer your question, or one way or the other. Ask a question, please. Of course, yes."},{"start":925143,"end":925897,"speaker":"D","text":"Olivia is—"},{"start":926249,"end":928061,"speaker":"A","text":"just unmute yourself if you don't mind."},{"start":928494,"end":931299,"speaker":"D","text":"Señora Luna, is she one of our East—"},{"start":931476,"end":934782,"speaker":"A","text":"our Bayside parents? Okay, then we're talking about equity here."},{"start":934782,"end":939777,"speaker":"D","text":"Yeah. And you know, we have our vision and our mission all around equity."},{"start":939905,"end":962453,"speaker":"A","text":"So I would like to definitely suggest that we do a reach out to her. Okay, so I would request that we go in that direction because of the equity policy that we have put in place, and also our mission, our vision, that is definitely a spotlight on equity in this school district."},{"start":965167,"end":970660,"speaker":"C","text":"I, I do too. She brought up excellent points when she had attended at the last meeting, or the previous meeting."},{"start":971367,"end":1001766,"speaker":"D","text":"So I, I, I, you know, she's on the district, uh, email, so, so maybe an extra reaching out to her. Um, and as, as the priority is by the Redwood City School District, our Bayside schools, and now it's also including, um, MIT and Roosevelt. I only think that is in correspondence with what the board had put into place and approved, that vision of equity."},{"start":1002746,"end":1006102,"speaker":"H","text":"Well, things do happen, and also emails change sometimes."},{"start":1007001,"end":1018019,"speaker":"G","text":"And Cameron talked a lot about equity when she was here, so I would I, I can reach out to our Bayside parent, Pat Hoover. She coaches on the soccer team."},{"start":1018227,"end":1023740,"speaker":"D","text":"Perfect. Yeah, we want to invite her. Should be possibly open."},{"start":1026032,"end":1045898,"speaker":"A","text":"So we'll come back to, um, in agenda item 58, um, I think it's 58, we talk about filling vacancies so that we can talk about vacancies. Yeah, yeah, that But clearly we need to do some recruiting from other areas. Yep."},{"start":1046364,"end":1046541,"speaker":"D","text":"Yeah."},{"start":1047247,"end":1051920,"speaker":"A","text":"Is there a motion? Any further discussion on the topic? Public comment?"},{"start":1053605,"end":1061714,"speaker":"G","text":"I mean, I think my only thing is that, I mean, where she is opportune, so we don't want to do one meeting where we request her to try to attend. So I think that's fair."},{"start":1062180,"end":1065873,"speaker":"D","text":"Yeah, just to have her finish up. There's a replacement."},{"start":1076074,"end":1078516,"speaker":"A","text":"We need to use the bond money to buy one more microphone."},{"start":1078580,"end":1079801,"speaker":"D","text":"It looks like—"},{"start":1079882,"end":1118364,"speaker":"F","text":"I don't mean any disrespect by this, but I, I think this is a pretty serious point, right? The voters were told in the 75-word ballot question, which there's, there's many tens of thousands of dollars spent on perfecting that. We know why, right? But it said independent bond oversight for Measure T anyway, independent. So I think it is— and you guys run the meeting, you the citizens, independent Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee run the meeting. You guys decide, not the district. And I think, with all due respect, Dr. Baker, it's not okay for you to tell them or, or make— tell them what to do about the thing. It's, it's a Citizens' Bond Oversight. It's— they, they decide what they, what they want to do. So that's—"},{"start":1118364,"end":1118829,"speaker":"C","text":"finish, please."},{"start":1119182,"end":1139477,"speaker":"F","text":"Please let me just finish. And I— that's my opinion, uh, and I believe that's what The, the intent— the legislative intent is, is this is an independent Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee, that, that, that's what the voters wanted, and it should be the Bond Oversight Committee that decides everything, right? Is, is what, what you guys want to look into and everything else. And I think that's, um, thank you for—"},{"start":1139477,"end":1151556,"speaker":"A","text":"okay, got your point. Um, thank you. I think we're just taking input from anyone who wants to speak, including Dr. Baker or anyone else, um, who would like to speak. I think we're taking input. We're not letting the district decide."},{"start":1151620,"end":1151957,"speaker":"D","text":"Thank you."},{"start":1152407,"end":1165589,"speaker":"G","text":"Um, but, uh, so, so to that effect, then I would like to make it a recommendation from this committee that we have, uh, we have a viewpoint from all districts. I think that it would be prudent to be able to have— make sure that there's representation from all districts."},{"start":1165765,"end":1226920,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, let's cover that when we get to it on the agenda. So this specific topic is— does— is there any other discussion? Is there a motion to remove a member? Okay, no motion. So Item 4.2 is closed. And we will move on to the information and discussion portion of the agenda, and we're happy to see a whole crew, I'm assuming, from VPCS here this evening. So thank you for coming. You'll recall we put this on the agenda or discussed it last time to get an understanding for the CBOC how the selection process was undertaken for the bond program manager. This is obviously a very important role in overseeing oversight of the execution of projects. And, um, so Rick, did you want to cover how the process went? And then is there a presentation from the VCSD team? Okay, great."},{"start":1245399,"end":1381229,"speaker":"D","text":"Good evening, everyone. So just going over quickly before I hand it over to our team from RCSD tonight, um, we participated in a competitive process for bond— for bond program management services, uh, in August of '23. We released RFP request for proposals and qualifications for program management services posted on our website and published with the Bay Area News Group. Uh, in September of '23, uh, the RFPQ submissions were due. 4 firms submitted proposals. Uh, after, uh, review, uh, and, uh, evaluating the proposals, we selected 2 firms to participate in onsite in-person interviews regarding their methodology and their philosophy around bond program management, taking into account the experience that they came to that with or had acquired through their years of service to school districts and bond programs. And in September, right at the end of September, We selected as a district Van Pelt Construction Services as a Measure S bond program manager. That's not right. So throughout October was contract agreement, negotiation and agreement. On November 23rd, or in November, the first board meeting in November of 2023. We presented to the RCSD Board of Trustees for approval, then Prop Construction Services to be the bond program manager for Measure S. And then in December, after the Thanksgiving break and multiple conferences that happened during that time period in November, we did bond kickoff meetings starting in December and then continuing on essentially through tonight. As we started the planning process. Are there any questions on the process that we went through?"},{"start":1381229,"end":1387188,"speaker":"A","text":"Is there— you have a link here to the board meeting where it was presented."},{"start":1387188,"end":1390246,"speaker":"D","text":"Yeah, just the board cover and the presentation that was presented that night."},{"start":1390246,"end":1398204,"speaker":"A","text":"Is there additional information about the selection process, or is that information mainly about the company selected?"},{"start":1398204,"end":1399445,"speaker":"D","text":"The company selected."},{"start":1399445,"end":1400026,"speaker":"C","text":"Okay."},{"start":1401732,"end":1402679,"speaker":"D","text":"Is there something specific?"},{"start":1403225,"end":1411570,"speaker":"A","text":"Well, I was just wondering if the— what were the financial decisions that went into this, and what are the requirements? Did you have to pick the lowest bidder? Do you have flexibility around that?"},{"start":1412292,"end":1550860,"speaker":"D","text":"Uh, no, we had flexibility around who we selected through this process. Uh, this is for professional services, so the requirements, uh, one, aren't necessarily there from a perspective of, uh, legal authority. Uh, we could unilaterally select a company to do this work, but we decided to go for an open process to, one, conduct the process, and two, to get insight to other process and practices from other management firms. And ultimately, we selected someone from that list that Redwood City has not worked with previously based on what they brought to the table. And this is not in any way a reflection on Will and RGM. They ran a wonderful bond program for Measure T. It was just a matter of, at that point in time, we felt this was the appropriate move for the district in terms of just the, the team that, as they presented. And I think you'll hear a little bit more about that as we go through, as VPCS goes through their presentation tonight and their introduction. To the Bond Oversight Committee, uh, their roles, uh, and responsibilities as they go forward, along with some of their methodology, uh, and philosophy. So, uh, we did look at, uh, everything that we could through that, including checking references, calling people, uh, calling people that weren't even listed as references, uh, just to make sure that we weren't getting, uh, you know, a couple of references that were handpicked and would only give us great information. Uh, but throughout the process, um, references came back, uh, uh, with, uh, high remarks for the VPCS team, uh, and what they have done. And the expectation is, uh, we'll have a similar type of relationship, uh, with VPCS that we had with RGM during this process as a true partner moving forward. Uh, and that we're excited to work with VPCS as, as we are excited to continue to work with RGM as we're finishing out Measure T and some other things going on with them. So I believe this is a win-win for the district. We'll have two great firms still working within the district, and we'll move forward from there."},{"start":1553411,"end":1565348,"speaker":"A","text":"Any questions from the committee for Rick about the process before we go into meeting the team? Um, once the bids were leveled of those four that came in."},{"start":1565684,"end":1568332,"speaker":"H","text":"Um, are we allowed to ask the range, like where they came in at?"},{"start":1569519,"end":1586348,"speaker":"D","text":"Uh, they were all, uh, somewhat similar in terms of pricing and scope. Uh, it was really about, um, what we felt was best for the district at that point based on the responses we received. Uh, and that was, uh, one of the biggest factors of moving forward with BPCS."},{"start":1589028,"end":1590167,"speaker":"H","text":"Are we allowed to know numbers?"},{"start":1590696,"end":1594371,"speaker":"D","text":"I don't have them with me tonight, but we can provide what was given."},{"start":1595591,"end":1599859,"speaker":"B","text":"Yeah, just the transparency of understanding what—"},{"start":1600565,"end":1604754,"speaker":"A","text":"Yeah, just make sure your mics are turned on when you speak so that folks on Zoom can hear you."},{"start":1609231,"end":1628030,"speaker":"H","text":"Okay, my question is, you, you, you just said that what was best for the district. Can you just give us just kind of a a little snippet or snapshot of what, what kind of— what are you looking for? What's best for the district? What— just doesn't have to be a specific, but just kind of a broad base."},{"start":1628335,"end":1689194,"speaker":"D","text":"Yeah, no, for sure. Um, you know, and like I said, this, uh, the, the selection of RCSD wasn't a reflection on something that we thought was going wrong with our RGM, right? It was just, um, at that point in time when we were going through this process and the internal conversations that we have had about this and looking at how we want to move forward. It was looking for, you know, a program manager that will come in and handle the program and do it efficiently and effectively. And we felt that VPS— VPCS brought something during their presentation and interviews that really rang true throughout the entire group that was there evaluating the proposals. And that we could capitalize on that moving forward. They can capitalize on the work that's already been done, and we can move the district further along that way. So it was a combination of factors. A lot of it was their approach and what they spoke about and their team, and we'll hear some of that in a few minutes."},{"start":1689194,"end":1705630,"speaker":"C","text":"Yeah, sorry. Yeah, you have the selection criteria in RFP as well. So it's right, you know, under Section 7, if you want to dig into that. Were there any protests lodged after the selection process?"},{"start":1705921,"end":1706018,"speaker":"A","text":"No."},{"start":1706244,"end":1707083,"speaker":"C","text":"Great to know."},{"start":1707422,"end":1707712,"speaker":"D","text":"Thanks."},{"start":1709326,"end":1711651,"speaker":"A","text":"Who was in the selection committee, Rick?"},{"start":1712740,"end":1721854,"speaker":"D","text":"Myself, Martin, Carlos, in course, close coordination with John, who wasn't sitting in, in the interviews but was part of the decision-making process."},{"start":1726289,"end":1741393,"speaker":"A","text":"Any other questions? Just one that comes— what's the pricing model? If you could just briefly describe, how is this— how is the program management priced?"},{"start":1741393,"end":1756723,"speaker":"D","text":"For program management and construction management, and I don't have numbers right in front of me, but I'll turn to them if I mess up on any of this. Uh, it's a flat rate over the 5 years, uh, based on— I think it came in right at 5% or right—"},{"start":1758387,"end":1761456,"speaker":"B","text":"right, feverishly searching, right?"},{"start":1761521,"end":1769804,"speaker":"D","text":"It was right about 5% of total program cost for both program management and construction management services provided by the CBOC."},{"start":1770096,"end":1782316,"speaker":"B","text":"It is 1.4% for the program management fee and 4.7% of construction management flat fee."},{"start":1783936,"end":1784417,"speaker":"D","text":"So 6%—"},{"start":1784417,"end":1786599,"speaker":"A","text":"And the term is 5 years, is that—"},{"start":1786599,"end":1786968,"speaker":"D","text":"The contract—"},{"start":1786968,"end":1802333,"speaker":"A","text":"—or the initial term? Yes. Okay. All right, other questions or happy to move on to 5.2 and learn more about VPCS? Welcome and thank you for coming."},{"start":1804892,"end":1811133,"speaker":"J","text":"Thank you so much for having us. I'm going to get my screen share on, so one moment."},{"start":1814417,"end":1816927,"speaker":"A","text":"And don't forget your microphone there if you've got it on."},{"start":1817105,"end":1828521,"speaker":"J","text":"Okay, it's, it's hit, it's just not lighting up for some reason."},{"start":1828585,"end":1839167,"speaker":"D","text":"The light's not working. Well, it's working down here. Thank you."},{"start":1840761,"end":1844565,"speaker":"A","text":"Would you like to join the maintenance team, please?"},{"start":1845018,"end":2076834,"speaker":"J","text":"Okay, thank you so much for having us tonight. We're happy to be here and very thankful to support the Measure S bond program here at Redwood City School District. Um, uh, we're going to introduce ourselves as a team in a second and give you a little bit background on who we are, um, individually. But as Van Pelt, we've been building relationships. We're family-owned business for over 25 years. Um, we're actually in our 28th year of business, started by, um, where we say— when we say we were family, uh, Eric and Kelly, who you'll meet in a second, are brother and sister, and their dad and uncle started our company. So definitely a family business, and our clients become part of our family. And that's really, really what we felt when we were able to interview and meet the Redwood City team. And again, happy to be here tonight. When you work with VPCS, you get a network. We've been in business, like I say, for 28 years, but we work in over 30 districts. Currently throughout the state of California. We have knowledge of your region. We have partnerships with local and state agencies, very close communications with California Department of Education, Department of Toxic Substance Control, Geological Services, Division of State Architecture, every acronym, Office of Public School Construction, you know, leveraging additional monies for your bond program. We work with them on the daily. So That relationship is really important to us as we steward our districts that we support and clients, and really for the kids around the state of California. We also have really, really great outreach with our contractor and consulting partners, which then provides better value for our— the clients that we serve. More contractor coverage, you end up potentially having better pricing, right? So more people interested, and we bring that relationship People like to work with us. So, and then we are very active in legislation throughout the state of California for K-12 schools, and stay active with anything supporting our kids and the school facilities legislative-wise. And so we know a lot of community leaders that way as well. So we're gonna introduce our team. I'll start with myself, and then I'll hand it over to Eric and And we'll just go down the line. But I'm Jennifer Gibb. I'm program finance manager for this program here at Redwood City. My background is finance. I've worked in a district for a span of 10 years, my local district in my town where I grew up and went to school. I have managed over personally for my district when I worked there over half a billion dollars and then leveraged that another 20% through state funding or local matches. So I have my CBO certification, which has proved to be supportive through the process of supporting our clients. And I just— I always say I love money and I love school facilities. And how can we maximize the money for, for you? Taking Measure S and potentially getting other funding out there for your community, make the dollar that the taxpayers are supporting a little bit more. So that's the value that I bring. I'll be supporting also community outreach Anytime that we go out to our community and/or need to solicit, you know, more participation either from the business-to-business contractor and consultant side or from our community to get them engaged as stakeholder involvement as we move through Measure S, I'll be supporting the team that way. Going to hand it over to Eric."},{"start":2076834,"end":2179079,"speaker":"I","text":"Thank you. Good evening. My name is Eric Van Pelt with Van Pelt Construction. I have been with Van Pelt for 20 years. If you counted the high school jobs, it would be longer than that. I'm one of the vice presidents of Van Pelt. I have worked on over 15 different bond programs in the state of California, totaling over, well over a billion dollars now. So lots of experience in the K-12 arena and lots of experience in construction. One thing we pride ourselves on is we bring the knowledge that Jen was talking about, about finance and, and the, the finance side of bond measures to and marry that up with the, with the construction knowledge. I am the third generation of my family that's worked in construction, from contracting to construction management. So we pride ourselves in understanding how the building goes together and understanding how that ties together with the finance work that Jen does. and the rest of the team does. Um, one other, one other thing about this team, um, that, that's pretty unique is we've all worked together for, uh, for an extended period of time. Uh, Ben and I have worked together for over a decade. Um, and Kelly and I, um, we've worked together our entire lives. But, uh, but, um, as far as working for Van Pelt, have worked together over 20 years. Um, and then Jen, Jen with us over, over 5 years. So this team has not only a lot of experience in, uh, K-12 construction construction and K-12 bond program management, but we have a lot of experience together working as a team. Um, so I'm going to pass it off to Ben, and he can do a brief introduction of himself."},{"start":2180828,"end":2196267,"speaker":"A","text":"Hey everyone, I'm Ben Kerr, program manager. As Eric mentioned briefly, uh, 10+ years of experience, all of them in K-12 with Van Pelt Construction. Uh, and yeah, uh, looking forward to working here in Redwood City."},{"start":2200659,"end":2283811,"speaker":"B","text":"All right. Well, I am Kelly Jergensen, formerly Kelly Van Pelt, and Eric stole a lot of my thunder. So, you know, but later I can take a poll on who thinks who's older or younger. I always like to ask that question when we get introduced. But one of the things that I think is important that we touched upon finance and our experience as builders. I also think it's really important to note the community engagement that that Jen touched on a little bit. It's something that's so important in K-12 construction, and with nearly 25 years of experience exclusively working in educational construction and on bond programs, I feel like it's really, really important for us to engage the community on the projects, seek input, and also strive for equity. So those are some of the goals and the things that I bring to projects. In addition to that, I always bring the lens of the fact that I have 2 children with learning disabilities, and so when I'm thinking about projects layouts, how we serve the community and the kids. That's always front of mind for me. So just a little bit about myself. I'm excited to be a part of the team. When we kick off a bond program like this, we really do have an all hands on deck approach. So even though I'm not your assigned project manager or principal in charge, when we start the bond program, we want to start it off on the right foot. So we have a large team in every meeting making sure that we set ourselves up for success."},{"start":2283811,"end":2291222,"speaker":"A","text":"I am Angie Remick. I am the program coordinator."},{"start":2291382,"end":2294784,"speaker":"H","text":"Basically, if you're gonna get an email, a lot of times it's gonna be for me."},{"start":2294913,"end":2305006,"speaker":"A","text":"If we're gonna schedule a meeting, I'm gonna schedule it. A lot of paper pushing and making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Keep the trains running on time."},{"start":2305087,"end":2442588,"speaker":"J","text":"That's right. Thank you, Angie. So a little bit about Our successful management. We are working within your county right now over in Hillsborough, and then we also— all the logos up on are K-12 districts where we not only run currently their bond program, but we've been supportive in successfully helping them pass multiple bond measures by the work— we feel that by the work that we've been able to implement. So we do great work today. To support future opportunities for investment from your community, right? And so stewarding that process is really important. That's obviously why we have the Bond Oversight Committee stewarding that, um, from an expenditure review side. Uh, but our team very much believes that if you're successful, you can go again and continue to support your community by doing it right today for tomorrow. So that's just a little bit about some of the districts that were, um, working in year over year or bond program over bond program. When it comes to program and construction management, we— it's, it's a continuous cycle, but we believe that we take the district's vision, we involve the community, put together a plan through a facility Master Facilities Planning process, align that to the funding plan. Like I said, um, Measure S will be the basis for the funding for the projects, but how can we leverage every project even more with either a state match fund Sometimes there's federal programs, local programs, partnerships. There's lots of ways to make that dollar more than a dollar. And so that's really important as we do the plan and then design, construct, and kind of do it all over again. So continuous process where we're engaging the community, understanding what the needs are. They often change throughout a bond program. So we're constantly, as Kelly said, set you up for success and then come back. And review and take that through the process as maybe the needs change for our community over 5 to 10 years, right, while we're implementing the bond program. But we're doing that together and we're adaptive to change. Kel, do you want to talk a little bit about process and practice?"},{"start":2442588,"end":2559227,"speaker":"B","text":"Sure. So when we embark on a large bond program, one of the most important things that you can do is put in strong procedures. So that the bond program runs smoothly. As you ramp up, things feel like they're slow, especially in the community, because you're not seeing a lot of activity. But there's a lot of procurement and processes that are going on behind the scenes that need to stay organized, because what tends to happen is if you're disorganized in the beginning, you squeeze your projects at the end with— of the schedule with rushed construction, rushed decision-making. So we want to set up processes and practices that allow for organization and for us to understand where the dollars are and that we've procured everything according to the law. So we have forms and signature processes that allow for easy procurement so that there's a lot of transparency with the team at the district making sure they know what they're buying and whether the competitive process was done accurately, and then that there's transparency at the board level for this as well, which obviously then trickles down to the CBOC. Along with that, we standardize how we do change orders on every project so that the community and the board see the same standard every time and understand how the dollars are being spent. We work on compliance. We communicate project milestones through schedule updates both at the project level and at the bond level. So that's another important community component is to have that bond program schedule so everybody involved understands all the projects and how they fit into the larger plan. And then compliance. Hugely important. When you're looking to leverage money at the state, you really want to make sure that you're in compliance with all of your procurement procedures. So by standardizing forms and processes, we make sure we're always checking those boxes. So when audit time comes and we want to get that state funding, we're in line. We work with people to help us get state funding, but we want to make sure we keep it and we don't ever have to give it back."},{"start":2562614,"end":2563246,"speaker":"H","text":"Thanks, Cal."},{"start":2563327,"end":2565497,"speaker":"A","text":"Eric, do you want to talk about program and project schedule?"},{"start":2565740,"end":2843453,"speaker":"I","text":"Absolutely. So on the next slide, you're going to see the balance that we try to strike. We've got the, the triangle there with time, money, and quality, and I'm going to talk a little bit about time with program and project schedule. When we start a bond measure, we're going to go through, as, as Jen touched on, the facilities, the Master Facilities Plan update, and then we're going to go through an implementation process. And when we get to that implementation process, Jen, myself, Kelly, and Ben are going to sit down, and we're going to start building the program schedule. The program schedule is going to be the guidebook for us for— as far as rolling out the, the program. One thing that we really touch on there is, is the first thing we really discuss is cash flow. We want to make sure that we have a steady cash flow and that we don't overspend or underspend. Through our bond sales. Then we'll reach out and we'll look at funding priorities, project priorities, and, and how that's going, and what the community is telling us in the facilities Master Facilities Plan and implementation process to establish the priorities of the schedules. We'll also look at market conditions, and we'll look at the current bidding climate, the current conditions of, of with our different consultants and so forth, to discuss when is the best time to move projects forward, based on those market conditions. And then obviously we'll, we'll always have that, that deep community input and staff input. I hope Kelly and Jen have talked about it a lot, but I hope that everybody really feels that we're, that we're hitting that point home, that we feel that strong responsibility to the community and the staff to deliver for them. So that input from them is really, really crucial. The next bullet is current facilities conditions. Are there any immediate facilities needs. We're already talking about that with the team when we meet every 2 weeks, talking about those immediate needs that potentially need some attention with this bond measure. And the impact of escalation. This is one of the, one of the biggest things when you're building this program schedule, because not only does the program— not only does the program schedule establish timelines, but it also informs the budget because of escalation. So every year when we have inflation and escalation, We're going to be looking at the different projects and applying the, the dollars to those projects to address the escalation based on the project schedule. And then the last point here is facility stress. We cannot go out and build all the projects at one time. It will cause havoc throughout the district. So we look and we try to strike a balance of understanding that these are functioning campuses. And that learning is the priority here in Redwood City. And we do not want to put too much stress on the facilities so, so we impact learning. One of the most important things we can do is present this information in a digestible format to the public. I can put a Gantt chart out and I read Gantt charts all day, every day. I read different spreadsheets all day, every day. But maybe the public doesn't read that. Maybe the public looks and they understand things more graphically. Maybe they understand things more verbally when discussions. We will put out schedules and timelines and information in different formats. So we make sure that the public is understanding where we're going. So it's not this complex spreadsheet or this, this big huge Gantt chart, but it's something that's visually digestible for the public. So that doesn't stare at these things on a daily basis. And, and, and. Need, need additional information, understanding. And then identifying stressors to the schedule. We will definitely track those stressors, and between this group sitting here, we'll go through and we'll try to find quality solutions before we get to them. That's kind of the key. A problem is addressable and fixable as long as we identify it early. And so we'll identify it early, and then we'll make sure that we get and we fix that problem before we get to it. And then finally, we've got the contingencies, the schedule contingencies that we will have built in. So we make sure that we hit deadlines and that we have plenty of time to make that, make that timeline. And then the biggest one is the adoption and the community consensus as we go through that implementation process and we present the schedule. It's again, this is the community input that we've been driving home for the last few slides, getting that community consensus and buy-in on that schedule. Getting the district buy-in and consistency on that schedule is crucial to having a successful bond program. Jen?"},{"start":2845588,"end":2935853,"speaker":"J","text":"Thank you, Eric. Um, Kelly, you and I can kind of tag-team this one, but for procurement and funding, I'll talk about the funding and then Kelly, you can hit on, um, procurement. Uh, really, some of the things that, uh, Eric talked about in regards to the schedule, we're thinking— we're looking at ways to make your money, um, have the most impact on the kids and the students, right? So speed to market, early procurement, um, ways of delivering projects— there's lots that we have as a school district in our toolbox. How does it best fit the schedule and the funding and the needs of the students? Like Eric said, um, construction fatigue is real. You have a big bond program, so we want to be thoughtful about how we deliver to each site and how we're, you know, lessening the impact on the students as we're doing these improvements. And then leveraging, like I've said, it's kind of my favorite thing, is to make the $1 like $1.30 or $1.50. Like, how can we leverage this? And so we're always thinking about that when we're going out for a procurement, procurement opportunity. How does that timing of the DSA, Division of State Architecture, and California Department of Education approval allow us to speed up a funding application, right? Getting in line as quickly as possible at the state is a goal. And so how can we do that strategically with our project delivery? Kelly, you want to take over procurement?"},{"start":2935853,"end":2990360,"speaker":"B","text":"Yeah, so the heat chart that you guys are looking at here on the screen is one of the tools that we use when trying to decide a delivery method for a project. So there's a lot of different contractual vehicles for bringing a project to fruition. And so in doing that, we evaluate the scope, the budget, the schedule, the priorities, and the funding opportunities for each project. And then we look at what is the best delivery method that we can use on a given project. And it's not the same fit for every district. So some of these blocks that you see in the heat chart, once we get to know your district and work with them, they might change slightly depending upon you guys' priorities. But it's really important for us to make those educated decisions. because that delivery method sets up the district for success as the project moves forward and allows us to know what our guardrails are for procurement to keep us legal and keep us eligible for state funding."},{"start":2990360,"end":3194964,"speaker":"I","text":"So talking a little bit about preconstruction management here, this is one of my favorite charts and graphs and visuals for this. Your ability to affect the cost and functionality of your construction project goes down drastically as the schedule— as you go through the preconstruction project process and the schedule for construction. Construction. It is extremely important not to do the preconstruction process in a silo. You have to have involvement from staff, your construction management team, and anyone in the district that is going to be a part of— that's going to be a decision maker and an input provider. So getting them to the table early on and making those decisions early on, that's how you affect the cost and the functionality of your project. Because once that train starts going, there's a lot of momentum that it takes to stop and make a change. And make a turn, and that momentum equals wasted dollars. Schedule management, another key concern. We race inflation and we race escalation each year to get projects done as fast as possible so we don't have to get less for our dollars. And managing and controlling the scope when we get through the facilities Master Facilities Plan and we get through the implementation plan, we're going to have a defined scope for each project. When you get to these initial pre-construction meetings where we're talking about design and talking about the different aspects of a project, controlling that scope and making sure that there's not scope creep, which is the addition of, addition of scope to projects that have been scoped out in the, in the implementation plan. I'm sorry, I said scope like 5 times there. But the, to make sure that you manage the scope creep and don't allow that creep to affect the cost and the trajectory of the project is crucial. And then constant check-ins with the cost estimating, making sure that as we're going through that process that we're continually checking in with the cost estimates, continually checking the budgets, and continually making sure that we remain on target as far as budget goes. Value engineering, there will be times. We, we are not going to sit here and tell you that every project is going to be perfect and every project's going to be under budget or on budget. Perfectly at the first pass. It's not. There will be times where a project, we get to the first cost estimate and we are, might be slightly over budget, and we need to get together with the team and we need to value engineer. And the value engineering is looking for other creative solutions to projects on, to problems on a project that cost less money. And then finally, the constructability review, which is one of, one of the things that we do, and we do really well, actually. We dig deep into those drawings and look for issues before they go to the contractor. So prior to the contractor seeing those drawings, prior to them being able to write an RFI that turns into a potential change order or so forth, flushing out those issues through constructability reviews. That's— in the beginning, I talked a little bit about the importance of knowing how to build and understanding the finance. That's where the knowing how to build really comes into handy. Is to do those constructability reviews and make sure that we're not missing anything. Jennifer, I'll pass it back to you."},{"start":3196415,"end":3208362,"speaker":"J","text":"I'm actually, I'm going to let Kelly take this one. Developing budgets is incredibly important in our programs, and we do that very early."},{"start":3208426,"end":3310977,"speaker":"B","text":"So, Kel, so one of the things that we use to really set the tone for the for the, for the program overall is an implementation plan. So that's going to be a project list combined with overall budgets. But that's not enough. You also have to dig deeper and make sure that you have individualized budgets for each individual project, including built-in contingencies to protect the district against getting over budget. So we have a detailed project budget for each project on the list. We have an implementation plan that we will work with district staff to— and the community to make sure that we put together properly. And then we back on regular intervals to update the board and the community on how we're doing on that implementation plan. It is a living document. You are going to have projects that go a little bit over, you're going to have projects that come in a little bit under, and you're going to be tuning and making those changes as you go along through the program. So it's important for the community and the board to know what's going on. The next thing that, that informs is the combination between the schedule and the budget, which is your cash flow. So it's going to allow us to know how much we're spending and when we're going to spend it and have a good relationship with the financial services so that they understand what they need to do to manage the money. All right. And then transparent and easily disseminated. Again, Eric hit on this already, but the nice thing about the implementation plan is it's something that the community can look at and instantly understand how much is getting spent on each project. It is up to us behind the scenes to use software and the district's accounting system to track the dollars and cents on every project, but we want the community to understand what they're spending their money on at each site and on each project."},{"start":3310977,"end":3316103,"speaker":"J","text":"Thank you, Kelly. Yep. Eric, do you want to cover change order?"},{"start":3316103,"end":3319220,"speaker":"A","text":"Absolutely."},{"start":3319558,"end":3479485,"speaker":"I","text":"Change order success strategies. Change orders are, are, are a part of the construction process. They always will be. There will always be issues when you're building these buildings. They're complex structures with complex systems in them. and there will be issues that arise during the, during the process. So how do we mitigate? How do we make sure that they don't get out of control? Acute involvement, um, and that, that means diving into the problem. Don't let the problem sit there. Don't let it, and don't let it sit and wait. Don't say, oh, we'll deal with that issue next week. No, once you identify a problem, we attack it and we try to tear it down and figure out exactly what the best solution is to it. Um, design team management, um, we will work with our designers to make sure that there is no scope creep. Staff are— staff and users are not the only ones that contribute to scope creep. Sometimes our designers do as well. So making sure that that management process stays in check and making sure that that is a process that we continually check in with our design team on is crucial. Communication, another piece that we've really hit a lot here, but I'll briefly touch on this. But communication within that construction team and making sure that we're all on the same page. And we're all pulling the same direction is crucial. And then documentation that, that tells the story, that also holds us accountable to anyone that wants to look in and review the finances of the project, is that we have ample documentation on the decisions that were made out and that were made throughout the construction process with the district. Relationship management. Jen touched on a little bit in the beginning when she talked about the different, the different the different organizations and different contractors and, and different consultants that we have relationships with. That relation— those relationships are, are very important because they help us get coverage for bids. They help us get coverage for submissions and for, for professional service submissions, excuse me, and for any other project or any other service that the district needs. So we're able to reach out to the, the proverbial Rolodex of folks and make sure we get enough coverage. And then trust and creative problem solving. So really building up that trust and relationship with the district. So it helps us be creative with our problem solving. We can bring— as we build that trust, we will bring creative problem— creative problem-solving measures to the district. And as that trust works both ways, to help us solve those problems."},{"start":3481443,"end":3709440,"speaker":"J","text":"Thanks, Eric. Uh, presenting the community— we touched on this, but your community is incredibly important. They're your constituents, your taxpayers. Um, we, you know, get more direction for as we, uh, go forward with the implementation of Measure S, but making sure that there's celebrations and, um, and knowledge out there in the community. So whether that's, um, educating the community on stakeholders and what we're doing through newsletters, website updates, video updates, as Eric said, um, helping with social media, making sure that the news is out there, what the good work Measure S is doing, we're supporting that. Um, having community meetings, we'll get out there anytime we start off a project, really making sure that the community understands what projects coming up and how they have opportunities for input, right? The community can provide input, the board makes the decision. But we've been directed by the board to garner that input from the community, as it's their dollars we're spending. So doing that, going to school site meetings, whether it's PTO, coffee with the principal, any ways that we can get out there. We have bilingual staff that work for us that would be supportive in that communication as well. So we're able to get out there as much as we can, making sure that Measure S dollars are getting the input from the community, who— the taxpayers. And then here, obviously, tonight with the Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee supporting however we may in that. Our approach, really consistent, clear, transparent messaging. We're always active, available, and VP— VPCS motto is whatever it takes. So we'll be there groundbreaking, ribbon cuttings, getting schools up and running. If we're, you know, whenever we have to do— if I need to support, um, moving, supporting our moving staff, however we need to do it, we're there. Um, really, whatever it takes to get those kiddos back in those new facilities is what, uh, what our focus is. A little bit about CBO best practices that we, um, like to implement is really just understanding the roles and the responsibilities of our CBOC. Um, transparency, right? We have the Brown Act. These are all, um, your, your meetings are governed by that. But we're supportive. We understand the Brown Act. We actually just recently had a company-wide session where we all just got refreshed on the Brown Act, right? Financial literacy. We're here to support you with any type of understanding about the financials as it relates to Measure S, whether it's understanding SACs in the most intricate level and finite, or at the high level. Like Eric said, we can dig into a spreadsheet. Or we can present at the highest level. Um, regular meetings and reporting based on your, uh, bylaws. We're here to, um, support and, um, be at the pleasure of the committee in regards to that cadence, annual report. However, we can support you on that. And then obviously compliance with the California Constitution as it relates to, um, the bond oversight, um, best practices. And really, the, um, BPCS support in informing the public. These are your 3 roles, as stated in the Constitution, California State Constitution: inform the public, review expenditures, and present your annual report to the board. So we're here to support on any of those to again help the community understand the work that the Bond Oversight Committee is doing as volunteers, as supporting the review of the expenditures for Measure S. Yes, and with that, we are open for any questions, but that's a little bit about VPCF and how we like to manage our bond programs."},{"start":3709777,"end":3716071,"speaker":"B","text":"That was more than a little bit. Thank you. So maybe you sense the enthusiasm. Much appreciated."},{"start":3716120,"end":3718384,"speaker":"A","text":"Who's going to be the on-site team in Redwood City?"},{"start":3720535,"end":3757473,"speaker":"I","text":"That would be— Ben and I would be— we'll be the two that you'll see the majority of the time. Our team will ebb and flow as the projects and the schedule comes together. You'll see our staff expand as more projects are running. You'll see us contract as less projects are running. So there, there will be a little bit of that, but your, your main contacts will be Ben and myself. You will see a lot of Jen because we lean a lot heavy on Jen for the finance piece. So this team, the CBOC, will see a lot of Jen at CBOC meetings, and we'll see a lot of Jen as we're putting together the budgets. And then Kelly is a resource that will be here periodically as well. Thank you."},{"start":3757473,"end":3785779,"speaker":"B","text":"Also, the districts that we serve, one of the greatest benefits they have is we have— I think we're at about 50 employees right now, and networking is really, really important to us within our firm. So when you're facing a problem or a challenge at a district, we want to make sure that we're talking to one another and we're seeking advice within our firm from managers that are not part of the district that you're working in, because we can really get some fresh perspective and get lessons learned at districts so that we don't have to re-experience things that have already occurred in other places."},{"start":3786694,"end":3797388,"speaker":"I","text":"And I, I rudely forgot to mention Angie. That's my fault because I could not do my job without Angie. Um, you will also see Angie as well as a regular member of the team."},{"start":3799122,"end":3807199,"speaker":"A","text":"All right, uh, committee members, questions, comments for the Van Pelt team? I have a question."},{"start":3807825,"end":3811229,"speaker":"B","text":"It's kind of a two-parter on your project delivery methods."},{"start":3812401,"end":3817587,"speaker":"A","text":"I'm not personally familiar with lease-leaseback. Is that a DSA-specific alternative method?"},{"start":3817876,"end":3831621,"speaker":"I","text":"No, that's, uh, that's, um, it's not related to DSA. It's a, uh, California Ed Code allows for it. Um, so it is a, um, delivery method that allows the selection of your contractor on best value versus low bid."},{"start":3831621,"end":3840126,"speaker":"A","text":"Sorry, would you have different project delivery methods for different schools?"},{"start":3840126,"end":3841440,"speaker":"E","text":"Yeah, it's—"},{"start":3841520,"end":3892104,"speaker":"I","text":"and I like to explain it a little bit like a Swiss Army knife. And we look at the scope of the project, we look at the timeline and the schedule of the project, and we look at the budget of the project, and we'll make an informed recommendation based on those 3 things to the district on what delivery method we think would work best for that project. And I, I mean, for example, I'll use a couple examples, and they're, they're going to be easy, quick examples, so pardon me for, for kind of brushing them, but a paving project, you typically would want our low bidder. We'd want to bid that out. A complex— say we're building a new school and we've got a lot of intricacies in a new school, we would typically want to select on a best value method for— so a design-build or a lease-leaseback or, or some form of method that where we can make sure that we get a, a quality team together because it's a more complex building project."},{"start":3892104,"end":3959505,"speaker":"C","text":"Yeah, I, I actually have some couple questions. Um, so there's a lot of talk about like the, the program kind of starting at the design phase, and I— sorry, planner architect over here, I apologize— but like, um, really I always think of it as like it starts with a planning phase where you're getting a lot of stakeholder buy-in And you talked a lot about scope creep, and I see that as a lot of times that's a symptom of not getting the proper documentation up front. So what kind of tools do you use to kind of enforce that accountability and also just, you know, make sure that you are engaging and getting that proper stakeholder buy-in early on? Because again, the cost of change as you get closer to the field, the field waits for no one and it gets very expensive. So how do you validate all of that? And I guess, you know, just to throw in another sub-question, like, how are you validating the condition of the, like, facilities that you're going to be updating in that planning phase?"},{"start":3959505,"end":3979688,"speaker":"B","text":"I think this might be a good opportunity for Jennifer and Eric to briefly go over the process they, they just completed, because I think it's a combination of the facilities master planning and implementation process that we go through, and we have a very unique approach to it, and the two of them just finished it in another district. So that's my suggestion. Sorry to put you guys on the spot."},{"start":3979688,"end":4165603,"speaker":"J","text":"Recently, we were brought on by— we, we were managing prior to the passage of Measure I in Pleasanton USD, Measure I-1. And in between the ramp up and sell of Measure I funds, we were brought on to do the implementation planning based on their Master Plan. So some of the things that we do to, to your point, is to ensure that one, community engagement— what, what did the master plan state? Or if we're developing a master plan like we'll be doing here in Redwood City, what are the components that we need to do? Facility condition assessment— absolutely go down and make sure. We've already been working with staff to understand, based on your previous master plan, what was completed off of that, off of Measure T. And then what has staff done in addition on staff funds, right? Um, local funds. And then, um, what are some of the needs, as, um, they've been discussing with, um, staff, community over the years that we haven't been here? There was some recent assessments that were done and/or, um, community polling, those types of things we take into consideration as we start that planning process because we want to garner as much information from your community as possible. So in Pleasanton, um, we had familiarity with the district here. We're get— gathering that information from past projects and what you've been doing in Measure T. And then we take that to a planning level with leadership and/or site-based, depending on the project and understanding the project groupings. The project groupings then create a schedule, and Eric can talk about that in a second. It will be schedule, cost, priority. Where I come in is the priority of funding, right? We have our local Measure S funds, but how can we maximize those? I know I keep saying that, but that definitely plays a lot into how you plan to implement the projects that we do. So what we do is look at where your current eligibility is. We work with your current funding consultant to understand that. And then it's actually a pretty exciting time right now in, in schools for funding at the state level. There— the program for school facilities program started in 1998. And the program is at 20 years, a portable rolls over, and at 25 years, a permanent facility rolls over. So they're— it's called the return of grants. And so we have a bunch of money if we participated in the SFP school facility program prior to today. It kind of restarts the clock, and these return of grants are coming because a lot of districts participated in earlier in the program, closer. So 20, 25 years are coming up, right? So we have a bunch of money, and so potentially coming to us in the following years, and we strategically plan our projects out. And Eric will talk about how he does that, but to align with when those pots of money become available, because we need the Division of State Architecture and the California Department of Education to approve those. You want to talk a little bit about that?"},{"start":4165763,"end":4174511,"speaker":"A","text":"I don't want to cut you off too much, but we have a really full agenda tonight, so let's, let's keep it rolling. Feel free to comment if you have something to add."},{"start":4174671,"end":4230046,"speaker":"I","text":"I will be less than a minute. So, just exactly what Jen was saying, and then we'll schedule appropriately. But one thing I did want to touch on is, I know we've said it a lot, but community engagement is just crucial. And making sure that everyone understands that that engagement process happens. So communicating out on different levels. And when we did this Master Plan, we put together this slide when we were doing the final presentation. And it talked about how many touchpoints we had, over like over 2,000 touchpoints with different community members in different meetings and so forth. Well, we went through that process and we would like it to stay really data-driven. Those 2,000 touchpoints produce information and that's data and data can— presenting that as data versus feelings and how people feel emotionally about situations that, that tends to help people understand a little bit better and stay on task and not get off track. Off, off the train."},{"start":4231604,"end":4250821,"speaker":"A","text":"I think we're all very eager to hear how it's progressing here with Measure S, which is the next item on the agenda. So, um, thank you for that. Other questions for the Van Pelt team? Um, how many bond programs are you currently working with, or district bond?"},{"start":4251512,"end":4263241,"speaker":"I","text":"We're, uh, at 27 different school districts at the moment. And some of those have multiple bonds going on at the moment, and I don't, I don't have that number off the top of my head, but 27 different school districts."},{"start":4263706,"end":4288765,"speaker":"A","text":"So you work with a lot of citizens' bond oversight committees. Yes, sir. I think we'd all be very eager, not tonight, but at some point, to hear some more on your best practices, what you found, who were the most effective committees, what do they do, who are the least effective committees, what should we avoid? So once again, we don't have to talk about that tonight, but would love your thoughts because obviously you've, you've seen it all. Yes, yes, sir, absolutely."},{"start":4288813,"end":4292258,"speaker":"I","text":"And we'll bring those thoughts and won't name names, but we'll bring those thoughts."},{"start":4292899,"end":4346158,"speaker":"A","text":"It's okay, it's all in the public record. That's very true. Anything else? Thank you all very much. It's a pleasure to meet you. Appreciate your presentation. Look forward to a very successful collaboration for the district and the taxpayers and the students. You're free to go if you'd like, or you can stick around. No, we'll, we'll stick around and listen. Thank you. Okay. All right, so we're moving on then to item 5.3 on the agenda. This is to review what's happening with Measure S so far. I think when we last met in November, really nothing had happened at that point. So eager to, to hear Rick you know, what's going on and how projects are progressing, the selection process. Fire away."},{"start":4349043,"end":4397215,"speaker":"D","text":"Thanks, Carl. So this agenda item, I just have a couple of slides to go over what was encapsulated in 5.3 pertaining to Measure S. So as noted earlier, Measure S was Series A was sold, uh, in June of 2023, uh, Series A, $90 million, net proceeds of $89,568,000. Uh, another point in here was the interest expense date, but I also added the interest that we have received to date on that from being in the county treasury. Uh, to date we have received $1.506 million in interest on the $90 million and expect interest in the '23—"},{"start":4398996,"end":4401265,"speaker":"A","text":"oh, that's exciting, there's two Ricks tonight."},{"start":4401655,"end":4444409,"speaker":"D","text":"Yes, scared me a little bit. Uh, in the '23-'24 fiscal year of approximately $3.1 million, uh, the interest expense to this point, uh, as of the February 2nd date, uh, is $2.662 million. $500,000, uh, that was fully covered by the capitalized interest fund, uh, as a premium on the sale of the bonds in June. So, uh, at this point, I know there's been some comments, uh, it's been net zero to taxpayers at this point, uh, and this is expected, uh, through the capitalized interest fund, uh, to carry through until, uh, August of '25."},{"start":4444490,"end":4450729,"speaker":"A","text":"Can you explain the capitalized interest fund for people who aren't experts in this area? I, I will try."},{"start":4450938,"end":4513701,"speaker":"D","text":"I will admit I'm not a true expert either with that, but I do know that when the bonds were sold in June, there was a premium levied on the bonds that went into a fund. The actual proceeds from the bond sale were approximately, I believe, $98 million, with $8 million that will go back to pay initial interest. through this fund. So, uh, the first interest payment that was due on— just making sure my months are correct— 8/1, August 1st, approximately $425,000 was covered by this fund. The interest payment that was due on February 2nd, uh, which makes up the $2.66 million total, uh, for both pay periods for this was also covered by this capitalized interest fund. Like I said, and to your point, Carl, I know about this. I know how it generally operates, and I'm happy to provide more information on this that I can send out to the committee."},{"start":4513701,"end":4526466,"speaker":"A","text":"Can you explain, I guess, just why the bonds were sold in June if there wasn't an expectation of using the money in the next Well, I guess we're about 9 months in now."},{"start":4526932,"end":4839204,"speaker":"D","text":"Well, I don't, I don't know if it was, uh, there was no expectation of using the money, um, during that time period. Uh, we were starting to ramp up, um, to your point, in November there was things happening in terms of getting the PCS on board, that type of thing. It just hadn't happened officially at that point, I don't believe, or it had just passed. We had just been at the board the week before our meeting or something like that, uh, when we brought VPCS on board. Uh, but during that time period, um, we obviously, uh, were starting out— I think on the next— he's giving me an extra slide. Um, we were starting out that process. Uh, there was, uh, a lawsuit filed in San Mateo County against, uh, the elections official that, although we weren't named, we did have concern over it initially. Uh, we postponed, uh, a little bit, or some things were delayed because of that, uh, as we were seeing what happened, uh, with that lawsuit. Um, I believe the appeal, uh, was filed the week that our bonds closed in June, if my memory serves. Uh, and then we started moving forward in August and September with the bond program management selection, uh, uh, and going through that process. Uh, so that took us through the fall, specifically into December when we were able to kick off with VPCS officially, and then the initial work we did with them. We currently have our architectural services request for proposals out on the street, so to speak, due next Wednesday, I believe it is the 27th, where we'll select a pool of architects and moving that forward to the board, uh, for approval, and subsequently selecting an architect to assist with the facilities Master Facilities Plan update, as noted on the slide as well. Uh, one of the things we heard time and time again from the CBOC tonight, uh, was their communications and community involvement. Uh, we're going to, uh, take them up on that, uh, right as we go through this process of of, uh, managing the update of the Facilities Master Plan that I believe was, uh, board approved in 2014, right? And then implemented— started to be implemented in 2015. As we know through Measure T, uh, many projects in there were completed, uh, other projects, uh, weren't completed but may have scope change now based on 10 years later in different needs. So we'll be going through the facilities Master Facilities Plan update with them, taking advantage of community meetings to gather, uh, additional input, uh, and then reprioritizing, uh, based on other things that we've heard as a district, uh, over the course— for me, the last, uh, 18 months, uh, for some others here, our board members and Dr. Baker, uh, you know, there's been other, uh, requests and needs that have been identified for this bond program that may not have been there originally in 2014 when it was created. Uh, so we'll do that in order to determine, uh, as well as determine initial projects, but finalize the priority list for the expenditure of that $90 million, um, uh, that we have on hand right now. Uh, although not a lot of money was spent in the first 6 months, uh, it's starting to wrap now with with costs for our program managers, as well as when we bring architects on board. And then we're evaluating right now the potential of other— I'll call them quick start projects that may be able to be implemented sooner rather than later and may not have to go through the entire Facilities Master Planning process to have those start potentially in this summer. So those are things that we'll be working on as we continue through this. So on the slide, we anticipate the architectural services to the board for that selection in April. We also anticipate the bond financial management software for Measure S in April as well. Another question that was in here, or statement in the thing, was, uh, expenditure approval process. Uh, noted here, the projects will be determined, uh, in coordination with district staff, school sites, uh, community, VPCS, uh, with recommendations ultimately coming to the board for project approval, uh, and then to move those forward. I don't know what Uh, the last, uh, portion of 5.3 asked about disputes in public comment. Um, as of now, we have no disputes in the public comment that we've received on Measure S is on the timing of the sale of the bonds and perceived cost to taxpayers, uh, which we heard earlier tonight."},{"start":4841419,"end":4841837,"speaker":"C","text":"Thank you."},{"start":4842222,"end":4844278,"speaker":"A","text":"Could you go back to your slide? I think it's 8 now."},{"start":4844711,"end":4851755,"speaker":"D","text":"Um, And it all makes us stack available afterwards."},{"start":4851851,"end":4865921,"speaker":"A","text":"It's not, not a big deal. So if I heard you correctly, in, in order— is it— is the selecting of the architect pool required to go to the Facilities Master Plan update process, or do those— are those happening in parallel, or—"},{"start":4866322,"end":4872964,"speaker":"D","text":"no, the architect will be— the pool will be selected, and then we'll choose an architect out of the pool to assist us with the update to the facilities master plan."},{"start":4872964,"end":4880661,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, so it's a serial thing. So when do you expect the facilities master plan update to be completed, if you were to guess today?"},{"start":4880661,"end":4893907,"speaker":"D","text":"I, I will actually turn for support. I mean, I, I can give you a guess, Carl, but they're doing it more often than I've done it in the recent years. So I would imagine it'll be somewhat staggered."},{"start":4893907,"end":4899665,"speaker":"B","text":"I felt like I was on a game show. I didn't know who was going to hit the button first. I would say—"},{"start":4899665,"end":4902279,"speaker":"A","text":"We call it Family Feud in this case. There you go."},{"start":4902535,"end":4959795,"speaker":"B","text":"True. Sure. So I, I would say that facilities master planning process, if you're going to do deep community engagement and the things that we would like to accomplish, is an over 6-month process. What I would suggest that we do in this case to the district is to do an implementation plan that kind of works in tandem with that facilities master plan process. So you're doing your planning, you're starting your implementation plan as you get further along in your facilities master plan, and you move along long. At the same time, while you're doing that, you're flagging projects where there is strong consensus and strong need, and you jumpstart those projects at the same time. So there's sort of a lot of things happening at the same time so that we don't lose momentum in the project— in the program, because not only are you planning for all those future projects, there are always a few at the district that are at the forefront that have the biggest need that we can get going on because there's more consensus. So it's a long process, but there's progress that happens along the way."},{"start":4964531,"end":4976024,"speaker":"G","text":"How are we getting this information out to the different schools within the district? Like, how, how are citizens and, and so forth in school districts getting notified that they can have input into the process?"},{"start":4977485,"end":5042271,"speaker":"I","text":"So as we, as we start the Master Facilities Planning process, we'll use a multi-tiered approach to communication. So it will be as simple as there will be flyers at the school districts, uh, at the school districts, at the school site updates that will talk about when our meetings are. They'll— we'll work with the district's communication teams to get the word out on social media and on the website. Excuse me. Sorry. Oh, and then we'll also put out surveys to the community as well for the people who cannot attend those meetings so they can still have input. But it's a multi-tiered approach, and we'll have meetings. For example, meetings at different times. We'll have meetings at 3:30, and then we'll have meetings at 6:30 for the parents who can't come till after work, and mix that up to try to get as big of a group as we possibly can. But it is a multi-tiered approach that will be going out that, that direction too. And we'll also work with site admin— administrators. They know their schools their best. They know how to communicate with their parents to, to make sure that they see the meetings and it's visible to as many people as possible."},{"start":5043233,"end":5071154,"speaker":"B","text":"Another thing that you can touch on, and it really is unique to the relationship that the district has with the city, but in other districts, we often work with the city communications staff and put it in newsletters that go out digitally in city communications as well, because we understand that not all people involved in the decision-making are parents. You know, you have taxpayers that put in just as much money as other people that may not have children in the district. So we want to make sure that we get the word out to them as well."},{"start":5071154,"end":5077735,"speaker":"G","text":"For the particular schools, then, are you working with PTOs or just pretty much site council?"},{"start":5078526,"end":5087590,"speaker":"I","text":"So we haven't gotten quite there yet. We need to— once we select that facilities Master Facilities Planning Architect, that's when that work will start— will start to work—"},{"start":5088123,"end":5092878,"speaker":"A","text":"will start to happen. Yeah, no, please."},{"start":5093136,"end":5114541,"speaker":"C","text":"That's— I, I think all, all of that information gathering is really great, and absolutely. But how will that be accessible to the public as it's being gathered? Because sometimes people can feel like they're giving insight and then it just goes into the ether. So is there a way that it will be reflected back to the public in order to understand better?"},{"start":5117107,"end":5169641,"speaker":"I","text":"Thank you. Um, so yeah, again, with that communication process, we'll also push out things like websites where all the information will be available, um, to folks. So summaries of meetings, videos of meetings, even if we do that, and all the information that we're we're building for the facilities master plan will be available. One of those websites is that we currently have, and we'll talk about the Pleasanton job, but you can look at— if you Google Pleasanton RCSD Master Plan, their master plan isn't a binder. It's not like a big thick binder that sits and gets dusty in a bookshelf. It's a website. It's a full-on interactive website where the— where folks can come in and they can see it, and it iteratively updated as we went through the process. So it's a really— we're trying to use modern tools to stop, to prevent the binder on a shelf that nobody wants to flip through the 500 pages."},{"start":5172302,"end":5178041,"speaker":"C","text":"I, I call them doorstops. But yeah, but, um, no, will, will we be getting that here?"},{"start":5180414,"end":5181071,"speaker":"I","text":"That is the plan."},{"start":5181135,"end":5183540,"speaker":"C","text":"Yes, absolutely. All right, just wanted to— thanks."},{"start":5186569,"end":5200093,"speaker":"A","text":"Other questions? So just to clarify, you talked about the fees earlier. Are we in the, like, 1.4% fee right now? There's no construction going on, so presumably we're paying for the program management piece."},{"start":5200928,"end":5201956,"speaker":"B","text":"So the, the way that—"},{"start":5201956,"end":5202534,"speaker":"A","text":"How does it work?"},{"start":5202534,"end":5327411,"speaker":"B","text":"Yeah, the way the fee structure works is we take the— your overall bond program, and we apply that 1.4% to the program cost, and then we divide it by the life of the bond program. And one thing that we didn't get to hit on that I think is really important is you can only contract contract with our firm for 5 years. Legally, after 5 years, the district, whether they love us or hate us, has to put out another RFP and select again. So with that said, that fee is prorated for the first 5 years of your bond. We're not charging you that total percentage. We're prorating it according to the work that will be accomplished in the first 5 years. So I just want to make that clear because it can get a little confusing. And then on top of that, what we do is we take the construction value of your program. So, and we'll talk a lot about this hopefully in our CBOC meetings. It comes up, up a lot in our other meetings is what is the ratio of construction cost to what we call soft cost. So imagine construction cost is everything that has to do with brick and mortar construction, and soft are all the other people involved in the project that don't build the buildings. So when you look at that, you always kind of think of it— the shorthand is a healthy project or a healthy bond has like about a 70-30 ratio. So 70% construction, 30% soft. Anything under 30% soft is a pretty darn good program. So that's how we base our fee, is we take that 70%, we take that out of your bond, and we apply a fee to that, and that's our CMB. That is also prorated for the life of the bond in equal installments. And the reason we do that is because what happens is the district's going to come to us and say, we need to paint a school, um, you know, we need to move this project from the back burner to the front burner. There might be things that occur during the bond program, and by always having that fee constant, we're renegotiating. We're never adding another contract. We're always at the beck and call of the district for as many staff as we need to accomplish the goals that the district has. So it keeps a flat rate going and keeps us available to the district all the time."},{"start":5327411,"end":5336132,"speaker":"A","text":"So just to exaggerate for effect, if we don't start building anything for 4 years, we're still paying you the same amount over the, the 5-year period."},{"start":5336132,"end":5384086,"speaker":"B","text":"If you don't build anything for 4 years, hopefully you fired us by then. But yes, absolutely. Now the converse is true too. If we do a lot of work work at the very beginning of the program and we're short on fees at the end. That's the gamble that we take as part of our fee proposal. And one of the things that we didn't get to hit on our presentation that I think is very, very important to us is we do not come back for ad services. We do not come back to the district and ask for additional cost unless your district has some kind of a crazy windfall and gets a new bond or are tens of millions of extra dollars, but our deal is our deal, and that is something that's really important to us as a firm and something that we hold to. So the converse can happen too, which is typically what happens, is that we end up doing a lot of the work upfront."},{"start":5386800,"end":5390718,"speaker":"A","text":"Thank you. Any other questions? Public questions?"},{"start":5392596,"end":5393528,"speaker":"C","text":"I just had one question."},{"start":5398405,"end":5431397,"speaker":"A","text":"I, I don't fully understand the concept about what you're talking about, but you float the bond in June and here we are approximately almost 9 months later. The, the fact that you had those bonds at premium or whatever, that's kind of an irrelevant thing, right? I mean, common sense would dictate that you float the bonds and you start the interest clock back then. A higher interest rate than the interest income, right? What, double your cost the tax base, right? So I think— and I, I do think it's also a cost to the community because they're not getting the benefit from the facilities."},{"start":5432250,"end":5441202,"speaker":"C","text":"Still, um, and I, I think— okay, thank you."},{"start":5442348,"end":5496871,"speaker":"A","text":"All right, anything else on this topic? And if not, moving on to, um 5.4, receive and discuss ad hoc subcommittee findings on independent counsel for the CBOC. So just to refresh everyone's memory, at the last meeting, Cameron volunteered to chair an ad hoc subcommittee to look into the topic about independent counsel for the CBOC. I think it was a subcommittee of one. One, but that's fine. And Cameron shared her findings before she resigned from the committee, and I forwarded that around to all the members, and I can read it here into the public record. But that's the topic of the current agenda item. Any opening comments or remarks?"},{"start":5496871,"end":5534079,"speaker":"H","text":"I have a comment. So I want to thank Cameron for actually establishing this discussion. However, I am going to go on record and say, after many attempts, we did not have an ad hoc committee meeting at all. These comments that you're going to be seeing and hearing and discussing today are Cameron's comments, albeit— no, I'm not making a comment on good, bad, indifferent. That's not the issue. Issue is, um, they did— they were not discussed in committee, so therefore they wouldn't be being—"},{"start":5534256,"end":5535653,"speaker":"D","text":"I can't recall, were you on the committee?"},{"start":5535861,"end":5550810,"speaker":"H","text":"I was on the committee and assigned that night, and we had no meetings after several attempts. So, okay, just saying, not that this information before us isn't valid and, and good discussion points, but I just need to go on record that knowing that I was part of that committee, we did not have it."},{"start":5551051,"end":5710923,"speaker":"A","text":"Thank you for reminding us of that. Appreciate it. Okay, so what Cameron shared, she wrote on the council conflict question, the answer is that the district's council doesn't actually view the CBOC as its client. There has never been an engagement letter with the CBOC, a requisite to initiating any attorney-client relationship. They have never contemplated the potential conflicts between the district and the CBOC, much less drafted a formal conflict waiver. Letter, in which she says, which would be standard operating procedure when conflicts are foreseeable. And so representation expectations are agreed in advance since the council can't serve both sides once the conflict materializes. They have never opened a file or internal billing matter for the CBOC, i.e., they keep no separate record of the work they do for the CBOC, and they bill it all under their district matter where we are not a listed client. For all practical purposes, we are not currently a client, not even a joint client with the district. Per any objective view of the legal engagement formalities, they are serving solely the interests of a single client, the district, where they provide advice to the CBOC. As an attorney, I find their lack of formality in seeming to advise the CBOC without any standard procedures in place to protect the CBOC's interests, both unprofessional and concerning. I strongly recommend the CBOC seek its own counsel, ideally at a different and independent firm. At an absolute minimum, the CBOC should immediately demand that we— when she was a member of the committee— be advised by a different partner at the same firm who will enter into a formal engagement letter and directly with the CBOC and we'll bill time to a CBOC-specific matter so that we have a record of the advice provided. That partner should promptly execute a written conflict letter for the firm to the CBOC so it's clearly documented that they will alert us if the new partner sees our interests potentially conflict with the district. And so the CBOC members can really understand that the firm will immediately drop us as a client on any issue where the CBOC's interests conflict. Conflict with those of the district. Please feel free to share my findings and recommendations publicly with the committee. Cameron. So, um, those are the remarks of Cameron, um, and we can open up a discussion on the topic and happy to take public comment on it as well."},{"start":5720105,"end":5746931,"speaker":"H","text":"So yes, that was the comments that were received, the current ones. But back on January 6th, there was another process of questions that had been answered. And the first question— and these were proposed, and I'll read it from the beginning. It doesn't take long. Um, it says, hi Rick, can I pause you?"},{"start":5746980,"end":5748344,"speaker":"A","text":"What, what document are you reading from?"},{"start":5748424,"end":5847855,"speaker":"H","text":"I am reading a document that was sent to me by, um, Cameron on regarding our subcommittee that the, the ad hoc committee, and it's, uh, it was, it was sent to the staff And then it was answered by staff. It was sent by Cameron, it was answered by staff. Okay, thank you. Okay, uh, it says, hi Rick and Janet Mueller, happy New Year to you both. I'm writing on behalf of the ad hoc subcommittee formed at the last RCSD CBOC meeting to consider and advise on the issues of independent counsel that has broken out only on a per basis for all DWK matters for which RCSD and is the client grant. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any clarification on these requests. Thank you, Cameron Hoffman. The questions were: all engagement letters, uh, please, please see the answers to your question. So, um, it says all engagement letters related to DWK's work for the CBOC executed between DWK and RCSD and/or the CBOC. We specifically do not request engagement letters or any engagement management. I'm not going to go on and, and, and read this, but there were questions and there were answers given. This is a, a little— the, the current one you read, um, is probably the conversation that we want to have tonight, but there were some questions already asked and answered by staff, and I didn't know if they wanted to, to have the opportunity to say what those questions and answers were."},{"start":5850980,"end":5854569,"speaker":"D","text":"I'm okay with just ending the discussion at this point. I can pull—"},{"start":5856765,"end":5865386,"speaker":"A","text":"so she made some requests for information to the district, you're saying? She copied you? Yes. Yeah. And the district responded, which you have copies of?"},{"start":5866059,"end":5994321,"speaker":"H","text":"They did. I said— I can read it, I have it in front of me. You want me to read it? Mr. Edson, I have those in front me. Okay, says, please find attached— please find or attach our current legal services agreement with DWK covering work related to the district's duty to provide technical and administrative assistance to the CBOC and other CBOC issues. Please note that it is our general services agreement with DWK for each year of the time period you are considering that would cover these services. If you would like a copy of earlier agreements, we can provide them, but they will substantially be— yeah, substantially similar to the one provided. Number 2, any conflict waivers related to DWK's work for the CBOC entered into by Redwood City School District and/or CBOC? The answer, there are no such waivers. Number 3, the matter names the matter names, matter opening dates, current status of the matter— simply open, close is sufficient— and total amount billed for each DWK matter for which the CBOC, not Redwood City School District, is the client of record. Alternately, if the CBOC is not the client of record for any specific DWK matters, i.e., if all relevant DWK matters have been open billed under RCSD as client client, simply confirmation of that filed billing structure is sufficient without any additional matter details needed. Answer: There are no matters for which CBOC is the client of record. Question 4: The total combined amount billed, broken out only on per base— per year basis for all DWK matters for which RCSD is the client. The answer below is an accounting of legal cost incurred by RCSD for legal work by DWK. Please note that this covers all areas of representation for which we engaged DWK, not just work related to our bond measures. And then there was a document that was attached."},{"start":5995653,"end":6002493,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, so it sounds like what you just read confirms what she wrote, or she wrote what she got back. Exactly. Okay."},{"start":6011858,"end":6020093,"speaker":"H","text":"Your dog is in your car. Go ahead, sir."},{"start":6020319,"end":6021596,"speaker":"C","text":"No, that's fine."},{"start":6024100,"end":6028810,"speaker":"A","text":"Um, okay, comments, questions? Um, then we'll take some public comment."},{"start":6029054,"end":6067161,"speaker":"G","text":"Um, So why did the— I, I, I might have forgotten, but why was there a need for us to have independent counsel as a CBOC again? What was the, the need or the risk? I understand that the district has an attorney. I understand what Cameron was saying, but, um, why were we concerned as a subcommittee about having our own independent counsel? Were we worried about a lawsuit against us? So there are something to that nature. I'm just not sure what, what the need was for independent counsel for our—"},{"start":6067161,"end":6114247,"speaker":"A","text":"Well, my, my recollection was that in general you don't want an attorney advising two sides of an issue, right? Because they're— who are they representing, right? And if so, if there were a contentious issue, not that there was at the time, but if one came before the CBOC, RCSD, and we were relying on the advice of the district's attorney. There could be a conflict there. And thus we wanted to investigate what were other districts doing, what would be the best practice. And so that was the chartering of the subcommittee. There was no plan to take any action but to report back and then discuss whether action would be warranted. Audit. That's my recollection."},{"start":6114520,"end":6129297,"speaker":"G","text":"Okay, that's fair. I just wanted to know. And then I just wanted to also know, did we find out if other districts have to have independent counsel? That's my biggest question. If it is, then this— then we— I'd love to extend on this. But did, did we find out if other districts had to have, or do have, independent counsel?"},{"start":6129778,"end":6151088,"speaker":"A","text":"I think, uh, Chris has probably done some research on this topic, so I'm happy to take public comment now if you have something you want to share on the topic. Uh, Chris, go Go ahead. I don't know that Cameron got that far to answer your question, or the subcommittee. I don't know that that was part— that, that part got done."},{"start":6151280,"end":6386284,"speaker":"F","text":"I, I will hit on that question. So I think I was the one that brought it up, right? So, um, and I think Carl explained it pretty well, right? It's like, uh, when I got married, I had a prenuptial agreement, and my wife, who I loved, or fiancée, and why we still had separate attorneys, right? Because even though you're in love, so it's the same with the CBOC and the district. Even though everybody might love the district, it's just good hygiene and governance. So the short answer is, should you have it? Yes. What— and the, the— there's really 3 reasons. Number 1, the CBOC is required to be independent and thus needs its independent counsel and shouldn't rely on the district's counsel, whether that's DWK or John Niblin, County Counsel, since he— they represent the district. They have a legal and fiduciary duty to do— to, to act upon the best interests of the district, not the taxpayers whom you represent. So you represent the taxpayers. It's an Education Code 15278, so California statute says the CBOC is to be independent. The governing board of the school district shall establish and appoint members to an independent Citizens' Oversight Committee. That's what, quote unquote, And it's also worth noting the 75-word ballot question, which again, there's lots of advisors that spend time on that, including the district's counsel, which was the matter of the suit, right? Was the only thing the voters see as they, as they're voting, is that question. And it said in Measure T, at legal rates— of course, that's the interest rate, right? At legal rates, with independent oversight, no money for administrators, and all funds staying local, right? That was the last phrase of the, of the— so it says independent. So I don't— I think voters expect it to be independent. They probably have no idea that the board members are picking you guys, right? But, um, but any— so it's— but, but nonetheless, that's— it is supposed to be— the, the voters expect it to be independent. If you use the district's council, I don't think you're complying with that expectation. Third, uh, and then the next thing is the, the, the Education Code says the district's required to provide you with technical assistance assistance, which most certainly includes independent legal counsel. That's Education Code 15280. Says the governing board shall, shall provide, without expending bond proceeds, the Citizens' Oversight Committee with any necessary technical assistance, and shall provide administrative assistance in furtherance of its purpose, blah, blah, blah. Okay, and then, and then John Niblin, who is on actually this representing the district, right? He even recommended CBOC, the California Association of Bond Oversight Committee, as a resource. That was his last slide when he trained you guys. Guys, which I kind of don't think it's a good idea for him to be advising you either. But CBOC is very— he recommended CBOC, and CBOC is very clear. And it's, it's— if you go to its website, it says the same thing what I just told you, that you should have your own independent counsel. Now, I know there was this question about what do other districts do. It's my belief that the vast majority of school districts in California do have— do rely on other council members. But that's kind of irrelevant, right? It's like speeding, right? Most people speed on the highway, but that doesn't mean we should. And there are— the biggest school district in the state, Los Angeles Unified School District, does have its own bond council, right? And I think there's a couple others. So the question is not, oh, everyone's doing it, so it's just fine to do. Let's just do what everyone else is doing. If everyone jumps off a bridge, you know, you shouldn't do it either. And there are issues. I brought one up about workforce housing. You guys are doing something very shaky. There will be at some point anyway, if you're going to go pursue workforce housing, I think you should have independent counsel, right? That's a— there are a lot of dicey issues, I think, that are— that, that can be pursued. That could be— that's, that's the— that's an unprecedented thing in most counties. I know San Mateo County has done it a few times. But so that's, that's an example of something that I don't think is legal, right? Workforce housing. So you, you use DWK, I get— or, or John, John Niblin, they're going to say it's fine. But I can give you 5 other attorneys to say it's not fine, and they'll go on contingency on a case against— okay, you guys."},{"start":6386332,"end":6387552,"speaker":"A","text":"So thanks. I think we got it."},{"start":6387649,"end":6407412,"speaker":"B","text":"Say I don't really appreciate the accusations, some of the statements. Um, it makes me personally feel uncomfortable, some of your accusations made. Um, I mean, when you say you guys, what you are doing is shaky, I mean either one."},{"start":6407524,"end":6409095,"speaker":"D","text":"You want to get—"},{"start":6409127,"end":6424516,"speaker":"A","text":"read my statement of contest, that whole thing. Okay, let's, let's bring it back to the topic on the agenda, which is discussion on the— this topic of independent counsel. But noted. Question about it though. Yeah, what is the financial implication of that?"},{"start":6424917,"end":6433751,"speaker":"G","text":"Exactly. I mean, if we're a taxpayer oversight committee, would we want to waste taxpayer dollars on suing— on getting independent counsel? I mean, and do we need Do we need it?"},{"start":6433815,"end":6450722,"speaker":"A","text":"Do we— how would, how would it be if, if you spend an hour with DWK or an hour with ABC, it's still a cost. What— I don't see any financial impact at all. Either you're paying, we're paying for DWK or whatever it is to consult with us, or we're paying someone else. The district is paying."},{"start":6450995,"end":6455074,"speaker":"B","text":"In either case, we're paying something up front for retainer to have them available to you."},{"start":6455074,"end":6500580,"speaker":"G","text":"100%. Do we have to have a retainer and, and actually get an attorney? That, that would be a great question, because if we do, then that's one thing. But I mean, we're a Citizens' Board Oversight Committee. We are taxpayer citizens overseeing a process, and including— we've— we— Will was very transparent about spending that the construction company has provided. We've reviewed it. The accounting team has provided details of how that spending took place. We've reviewed it. So I mean, how, how are we lying reliable? That's my other question. I mean, we are the taxpayer. We are here to represent the taxpayer, right? We are an oversight of spending. So my question is, are, are we, are we, you know, are we questioning our own judgment?"},{"start":6500580,"end":6530738,"speaker":"A","text":"I think the idea that I see is, should a contentious issue come before the CBOC— let's just take workforce housing. The public comment is it's not allowed. Let's say the district says it is allowed. Uh, eventually in our oversight role, we'll have to write an annual report that said money was spent on workforce housing, and we'll have to render some opinion about that. Would we want legal advice? And if so, where do we go?"},{"start":6530818,"end":6543172,"speaker":"G","text":"You're not part of the decision process though. We, we are an oversight committee, so unfortunately the, the part that we miss is the decision process. It will So there is no reflection for us to actually say, yes, we approve that."},{"start":6543413,"end":6575183,"speaker":"A","text":"And I wasn't speaking to approving it. I was simply saying our role as the CBOC is to communicate to the taxpayers what the money has been spent on. Correct. So how are we liable for that though? I'm not sure the word liable is what I'm at— is what I'm getting hung up on. I'm not suggesting someone would sue the committee and we need representation. So, but then why the need for the independent To ask them questions if we get into some gray area about what we should be reporting to the taxpayers. Okay, that's fair. It's advice. It's, it's not—"},{"start":6575183,"end":6576178,"speaker":"G","text":"It's legal advice."},{"start":6576178,"end":6637352,"speaker":"A","text":"It's legal advice like we would ask— we asked DWK for some advice. I can't remember the— a year ago or something, there was— we asked for some, and we got a legal opinion about something. It was maybe the bylaws. I don't recall exactly what it was, but they gave us an opinion. Again about something we were unclear about, maybe was editing the bylaws. So I think the, the question on the table is if we needed some advice about how bond money is being spent and how to communicate that to the taxpayers, which is our only role, is communicating to the taxpayers, right? We don't— you're right, we don't approve anything, we don't supervise anything, we simply just report after the fact whether it was spent according to the Constitution and the ballot measure. Right. So I think the question is, should a, a, a point of contention come up and we're not clear, like, well, is that legal? Is that not legal? How would we communicate that? Where would you go to seek legal advice as a committee? Okay."},{"start":6637465,"end":6657367,"speaker":"G","text":"So my next question would be the same as Jennifer and Jen. It's really, do we have to have a separate attorney and, and do we have to put a retainer down? And then who is paying for that? For that? And why are we using taxpayer money? As Chris Robell just mentioned, we're here to save the taxpayers' money. Who's paying for that? That would be my next question, I guess, to the issue. That's the only other thing that I can add, and that's just my thing."},{"start":6657591,"end":6759353,"speaker":"H","text":"Sorry. No, and, and absolutely, the— I'm, I'm on the, the same page with that. I do have a question though, when it comes to, um, we would ask the attorney, the attorney of record, um, if we had an issue, as you said we had before. I wasn't on the, the committee at that time. Um, if for some reason this committee said, yeah, we're not standing for that answer, we could at that point engage in outside counsel, um, for a peer review or second opinion or whatever, whatever you want to call it. But I, I am perfectly okay with being the gatekeeper of the citizens' dollars that they've entrusted for our eyes to, to watch. Much. And having an on— of record outside counsel, I for one don't feel that there's been any proof to prove by what we currently are utilizing that there has been any shadiness, illegal activity, um, fraudulent activity, um, where there's a lot of smart people on this committee. I— it wouldn't have gotten past you, so I, I don't see where we need to change what we have. I, I appreciate the comments of the speaker. Um, I don't agree with them, but I appreciate the fact that you come here and voice, uh, your concern. Um, but at the same time, I don't feel, um, that I mistrust the process that has been put in place until at the point it ever happens, then I think we can revisit the conversation."},{"start":6759353,"end":6847268,"speaker":"G","text":"Yeah, and I, I agree. I mean, if, if at the end of the day that we're, you know, I think if we did need representation, I think the fact that we have an independent counsel that's quite intelligent, and we have construction— we have construction and management engineers, we've got lawyers, we've got all sorts of folks from different backgrounds, we've got architects. I think we can make sound advice, or, you know, we're able to read everything, we're able to interpret what's been presented to us. But the, the one thing, like, you know, one person's opinion— we're talking, you know, whether or not funds are allocated for, for housing for teachers. I mean, I strongly disagree. I think the funds should be allocated for teachers. The— it's the poor teachers that have to go out of district that we don't get quality teaching because there is no housing affordable for them, you know. So I mean, I completely disagree with the public in this opinion. So I'm allowed to— I'm a citizen. I I guess we can disagree. And to Mr. Robel's— yeah, with, with respect, you know, I agree to disagree, but at the same time, I agree with Janet. I do value what you're trying to say, but it's just a difference of an opinion. And I think having an attorney, you know, why would I want to wait— task— like, I, I'm with you on the lack of wasting funds. That's why we all join the committee. But I don't think we would want to— I wouldn't personally want to waste funds hiring an attorney or meeting an independent counsel for retainer at this point. That's just an opinion. So that's, that's all I wanted to say. I'm good. So—"},{"start":6847268,"end":6879833,"speaker":"A","text":"Other comments on the topic? Does anyone interested in continuing on the subcommittee to investigate the issue? It sounds like the open question— one of the open— there's a question about effectiveness and whether it's needed, and then there's a question about cost. Is there additional cost to the district to do this, or is it just moving funds from one attorney to another attorney? So that, that's an open question that's been discussed this evening."},{"start":6879833,"end":6904559,"speaker":"H","text":"So maybe it might be advan— in our advantage to ask the attorney of record to come again before this committee and answer some of our specific questions. And, you know, point blank say to him, you know, do you— how does that process— what is that process? What is that next step? You know, um, and that might be a good agenda item for us to have on one of our—"},{"start":6906598,"end":6917130,"speaker":"A","text":"yeah, I think that's a very constructive addition to the conversation. So thank you. Anybody, um, other thoughts on next steps?"},{"start":6918334,"end":6965885,"speaker":"E","text":"So I, I apologize for having to step out, but I'm just wondering I mean, what is the problem we're trying to solve by having, um, the redundancy of counsel? We, we, we clearly have opportunities to engage should a conflict or a differing of opinion occur, and I'm wondering if, um, if I may have missed something and there's a, there's a specific problem we're trying to council, or if we're just wondering if in the event at some point in the future something does arise. I, I think really, unless that, um, unless we have a specific problem, I, I don't think there's a need to have redundancy in council."},{"start":6971012,"end":7031324,"speaker":"A","text":"Good point. I just want to reiterate that we chartered Cameron to go off and research this, and she came back with a very strong statement. Now she's no longer on the committee, of course, to come here and defend her position. But it's probably worth rereading what she wrote. And I think it is the, the question, the fundamental question is, would we want to— if there is no incremental cost to the district because it's paying one attorney or another attorney, assuming it's just hourly billed as needed, then fundamentally the question would be, would we want to have someone essentially actually ready to go should the need arise. That would be the only compelling reason to act now as opposed to waiting until something does come up. Because let's say something comes up at the next meeting and we agree, gosh, we should probably get some independent insight on this. Then we'd have to kick off a process to go find this counsel. So this would be a— I agree with Cameron."},{"start":7031437,"end":7073221,"speaker":"G","text":"Cameron is a very intelligent attorney. I mean, she's absolutely correct in her, in her statement. Um, but I just don't see where— I very much agree with Janet is what I'm trying to say— is I think that if, if we do need an attorney, I think we would possibly execute at the time. Um, and maybe, yes, an independent attorney would be what I would say that'd be. I, I agree with Kim. I, I don't think we should reuse the district's attorney. Um, but I just don't see where we would need it until the need arose. Those. So that's just my opinion. That's all. But I agree with her opinion, and I think it's well stated. Yeah, just, just for the record, she did a wonderful job, and I appreciate all her hard work. Yep."},{"start":7073558,"end":7094119,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, so, um, I think we're not— there's no action to take tonight on this topic. It was a discussion topic, uh, so we've had, I think, a good discussion on it. And there's a— I get a sense there's a, there's a feeling like when we need it, we should address the issue, but it's not needed now, is— would be my summary of what I, what I heard."},{"start":7094119,"end":7119374,"speaker":"H","text":"Yeah, I would say if we need it, we address it. You know, it's an— I don't think it's an automatic we're going to need it, but definitely it is something everyone on this committee is going to have their eyes open to. And we won't— you know, if the attorney— if we have requested the attorney's presence on an issue and we're not satisfied with that conversation, then we make a decision. But we, we haven't crossed that, that threshold yet."},{"start":7119486,"end":7131983,"speaker":"A","text":"Yeah, I think you had a great suggestion, and let's just have DWK come and share their side of the story, right? Because Cameron has shared her side. Absolutely. And, uh, we can just have them, uh, talk about how they would handle the situation should it arise."},{"start":7133686,"end":7165820,"speaker":"C","text":"Okay. Um, Carl? Yes? I, I think, um, just to clarify, when we needed their assistance the year and a half ago, I, I remember that. I— but I wasn't really directly into it. Um, do we have a direct point of contact with the, the council? Or— I, I think that might be a way to help us in this process, is to be able to reach out to them directly and not need to— you know, there's no gatekeeping there. There's, there's just direct communication. So, um, I think that would be maybe a compromise."},{"start":7165900,"end":7215836,"speaker":"A","text":"I don't believe— to answer your question, I don't have that. I don't think you do or any of us do. We go through the district. So that would be a great question to bring up when they come and, and present and say, you know, it's a great suggestion, Carl. Okay, any other discussion on this topic? Not hearing any. Let's move on to 5.5. This is about our friend Measure T, which must be coming to an end soon, but let's hear what the progress is on the spending on the remaining Measure T projects. And Will, it's always a pleasure to have you here with us, and thank you for sitting through everything this evening to get to your portion of the agenda."},{"start":7215836,"end":7276732,"speaker":"C","text":"Yep, thanks, Carl. And definitely some updates on completion tonight. We're nearing completion of the closeout phase of the Garfield new classroom building and modernization project. expecting DSA certification this month or early April. Uh, recently completed the final punch list items and closeout phase of the district-wide EMS energy management system and security project with Siemens. We completed the Haas video intercoms project, uh, completed the McKinley Theater lighting technology upgrades project. We're working actively to help the district obtain and, uh, the remaining state funding reimbursements for Measure T projects, including the OPSC reporting and audit responses. And we're in the procurement phase of the district-wide solar Phase 2 project and look forward to our next planning meetings with the district to finalize locations for the new photovoltaic arrays. Does anyone have any questions? And is that—"},{"start":7276844,"end":7287327,"speaker":"A","text":"how, how much is— is there anything left after all of that, um, that's still going to go to the board for approval, or are we Is this in the, the closeout stage now?"},{"start":7288243,"end":7310263,"speaker":"C","text":"Definitely in the closeout stage. We're down, uh, we're getting close to the last half million left in the Measure T, uh, Fund 21. And, uh, the next and maybe the final item of the current Measure T funding would be, uh, supporting contracts for the Phase 2 solar project."},{"start":7312511,"end":7316302,"speaker":"A","text":"Do you have an estimate of the solar project? Seems like the last big one left."},{"start":7316431,"end":7347257,"speaker":"C","text":"That is— yeah, it, uh, the project has to be completed, construction has to be completed and closed out, uh, within 2 years from April, so April 2026. It's going to be about a 2-year project, and, uh, we're still discussing with the district how financially that's going to work with the use of state funding in terms of the relation to officially closing out Measure T and, you know, where those funds are going to land."},{"start":7347257,"end":7374629,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay. I think that's the question. I don't know, Rick, if you have an opinion on this. Do we— will Measure T activity be able to be closed out before the completion of that 2-year solar project, or will we still be talking about Measure T for 2 more years Uh, that, that would be a combination of Measure S, as Will was mentioning, and then the Sleep Facilities Program monies that we'll be using as well."},{"start":7374709,"end":7387901,"speaker":"D","text":"So, uh, there may be an opportunity during that time period when money is fully, uh, expended from one, uh, that we can close out Measure T. Okay. Not necessarily with project completion, to answer your question."},{"start":7389605,"end":7424808,"speaker":"A","text":"All right, thank you. Any other questions for Will on, on Measure T projects? Okay, uh, moving along to 5.6 then, which is, uh, our review of the last quarter's, um, bond financial activity. This is covering the October 1st through December 31st period. In our next meeting, we'll cover the January through March. Um, so let's walk through, um, our reporting on, on that quarter."},{"start":7425529,"end":7443843,"speaker":"C","text":"Yep. So I, I do not— and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that 5.6.1 was provided. I think it was captured in 5.6.2 through 4. Is that correct? No, 5.7. Oh, it is posted. Okay. So does anyone have any questions on You might be right."},{"start":7444311,"end":7451676,"speaker":"D","text":"Okay, okay."},{"start":7451983,"end":7461969,"speaker":"C","text":"Uh, does anyone have any questions on the— just the general expenditures of the program since last meeting before we get into the 3 reports provided?"},{"start":7462050,"end":7492674,"speaker":"A","text":"This is the 561, is the Excel spreadsheet with all the detail in it. Um, so thank you again for providing that, uh, so that we could sort it and such. Does anyone have questions on the Measure T expenditures spreadsheet? Nope. Okay, uh, 562 then. So we provided the report."},{"start":7492963,"end":7496479,"speaker":"C","text":"There's 3 change orders. Uh, does anyone have any questions on any of these?"},{"start":7498400,"end":7528474,"speaker":"A","text":"Please, 3 change orders for a total of $36,000, right? Yep. Is that the one? Yeah. Okay, any questions on the change orders from this period on the committee? No. Okay, uh, 563 then is any, uh, no-bid contracts And there's a handout for that, and it looks like there's 6 or 7 items on there."},{"start":7530559,"end":7531393,"speaker":"C","text":"Any questions here?"},{"start":7538258,"end":7543712,"speaker":"A","text":"Can you remind us of— there's a limit below which no bid is, or bidding is not required, correct?"},{"start":7543873,"end":7555569,"speaker":"C","text":"Yeah, $60,000. So, okay, the only number larger than that here is the $96,000, but that's a negative, it's a credit back on our, our GMK. A, uh, Garfield contract. Got it."},{"start":7558939,"end":7571636,"speaker":"A","text":"Nope. Okay, moving on then to, um, 564, uh, new board-approved projects during that period."},{"start":7571700,"end":7572294,"speaker":"C","text":"Questions?"},{"start":7572920,"end":7607580,"speaker":"A","text":"Anybody have questions on the— these are quite similar to the other projects we've seen on the other list, so Okay, all right, thank you guys. 565, um, any current litigation or disputes related to bond programs? None. Okay, thank you. So then we're on to 57, um, which is the financial update on revenues and expenditures for T&F."},{"start":7610370,"end":7662911,"speaker":"E","text":"For this item, I included 5 reports. First report is— the first report is the Measure T Bond Fund Income and Expense Summary Report. This is— the cutoff is December 31st, 2023, showing the actual expenditures. Measure T Fund 21. Interest revenue first quarter was $33K, and the actual expenditures, $1.5 million. And the total expenditure, actual expenditures for all funds combined, it's $212,914,763. You have any questions regarding this report?"},{"start":7667973,"end":7668214,"speaker":"D","text":"Nope."},{"start":7670297,"end":7674286,"speaker":"A","text":"Next up is 57B. Yes, 57B."},{"start":7674446,"end":7701047,"speaker":"E","text":"It's a board report from financial 2000. It's a supporting document for the previous spreadsheet I presented showing the year-to-date actuals as of December 31st, 2023. 3. But just to point out, it's showing just the first quarter, um, interest revenue. You have any questions?"},{"start":7703470,"end":7706135,"speaker":"A","text":"Nope. Okay, moving, um, C—"},{"start":7706761,"end":7841196,"speaker":"E","text":"moving forward to 5.7C, um, this is from bond accountability system showing the projects on the left side, and some brief descriptions, and then the columns showing budget and expenditures. Both systems, accountability and the district financial system, are reconciled as of December 31st, 2023. This is the cutoff for this report. As you can see, showing the paid column, the total expenditures as of December 31st was $212,914,763, confirming, confirming the total expenditures in the financial 2000. Let me know if you have questions. Moving forward. Good. Yep. To 5.7D. This is also a, a report from accountability system. It's a sources and budgets report. On the left side we have brief descriptions of the object codes and the sites. The projects are, are in the column. Columns. And if you, you can see the local funding, the 3 funding sources, and there are 3 pages. So the total budget, it's $214,999,110. Um, since the last presentation, the budget has been updated with the first quarter, $33K, and the second quarter interest revenue, $26K. And, um, I just want to point out that, um, there are $894,565 in total project contingencies."},{"start":7844214,"end":7850806,"speaker":"A","text":"Great. Okay, that's it for Measure T, correct? Thank Thank you. So we've got our first report on Measure S now."},{"start":7851337,"end":7883078,"speaker":"E","text":"Yes, the next report is a board report from financial 2024. Um, this is for Measure S, and you can see the year-to-date actual— um, it, it is, uh, for December 31st, 2023 cutoff. Uh, the first, um, uh, quarter interest revenue was $728,000, uh, $728,770. $77 million, and the ending balance, uh, $89.5 million."},{"start":7883078,"end":7889530,"speaker":"A","text":"Can you walk us through the expenditure lines there, uh, just since it's the first time we're seeing Measure S?"},{"start":7889530,"end":7914319,"speaker":"E","text":"There were briefly some, um, advertising, uh, expenditures, and, um, um, just Mobile modular expenditures. So as you can see, we don't have VPCS expenditures yet. They started in January."},{"start":7914319,"end":7917274,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, so there was no expense in December for—"},{"start":7917274,"end":7918189,"speaker":"E","text":"No, no."},{"start":7918189,"end":7927969,"speaker":"A","text":"For our team over here. Okay. Any questions on the Measure S so far?"},{"start":7930566,"end":7931360,"speaker":"D","text":"All right, thank you."},{"start":7937112,"end":7946692,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, so that was 5.7. So we're gonna go into 5.8. Oh, oh yeah, yeah, please."},{"start":7960684,"end":8037152,"speaker":"F","text":"So I, as you probably know, kind of spot check some of these things. So, and this is an example of what I was talking about before. I apologize if you felt personally attacked. I was not attacking you at all, but this is— this will help you understand my thinking. So on that expense list, you saw $11,472 for backpack hooks, right? I dug deep in this one. Okay, that was for one school. It was for 250 backpack hooks. Okay, so that comes out to $46 for a backpack hook. It's those little gold things that, you know, kids can put on their backpacks. I went to Home Depot, and those hooks sell for $3 per hook. Okay, so we're talking about $11,472 for 250 backpack hooks. That was bid out to Beals Martin. It was— there was not sent out to multiple bid, right? I mean, I, I would gladly do it for 10— for anyone, but it's not sent out to multiple bid. And, um, so $3 versus $46, right? And coincidentally, or maybe not coincidentally, Beals Martin donated $20,000 to the Yes on Measure S campaign, and it wasn't sent out to multiple bid. So I think that's important for the— you know, and meanwhile, we're laying off 39 teachers and everything else. Just draw your own conclusions. It's called pay to play. Okay, that's, that's, that's exactly what happened."},{"start":8037281,"end":8049901,"speaker":"A","text":"$11,472 for 250 backpack hooks. Okay, thank you. Um, would you prefer not— go ahead. Yeah, sure."},{"start":8049982,"end":8126735,"speaker":"H","text":"Thank you for, for— you do the research, that's very helpful. Um, but I, I find it hard to sit up here and receive such slanderous comments regarding, uh, one of our contractors that we're doing business with. A, whether or not they donated money— many of us have donated to many different, um, issues, and I, I would hate to have my name slandered that way because I donated money to something. So, um, I personally would not feel that a contractor who, um, is doing this kind of business for our district and a contractor of this, um, level, uh, would be, um, uh, fraudulently providing, uh, a cost, uh, to, um, to this bond measure. I will say that going to Home Depot and buying a hook is something you're going to do, I'm going to do, go home and put it on the wall. We don't have to pay all these salaries and do all this research research and investigation on where, how, how tall it is, ADA regulations. There's a lot of other factors that go into establishing or installing, um, what we do. So thank you for your analogy. I just wanted you to hear mine."},{"start":8127730,"end":8182509,"speaker":"C","text":"Well, sorry, I, you know, with, with the comment on this, the Home Depot hook is not the one that you install at a school. Like, I hang up my daughter's backpack every day is about a 1-inch thick piece of plexiglass that will not break. And if it did break, it will not be sharp that cuts a child's hand. So this idea, this random analogy of a Home Depot hook is not right. It— so sorry, I know I'm advocating over here, but, um, and it's frustrating. And then just to note, there was carpentry involved, um, painting involved, materials for both of those those, you know, safe backing that'll allow the carpentry component to mount to the wall of the, of the classrooms safely, the labor that was involved, and, you know, paying prevailing wage labor that the district has to— it all adds up quick."},{"start":8182509,"end":8189338,"speaker":"G","text":"Yeah, I was, I was just going to ask if there was any backing. So that was the answer."},{"start":8189338,"end":8256022,"speaker":"A","text":"Let's move on to any other discussion on the the financial reports. Okay, let's move to— we're combining essentially 5.8 and 5.10, which is about the committee membership. Um, so we do have a required committee member representing a business organization, which is an unfilled position, and I think has been for quite some time. So we wanted to get an update from the district on, uh, what's been happening to fill that. Um, we do have two members who are up for a, a second term coming up in June. We just basically wanted to raise awareness of that fact so that we don't get into a situation where the board doesn't approve the members in time. We do need to have 7 members. We have 7 members currently. It would be good to have a few more, and we know we need to fill that business organization representative. So, Rick, I don't know if you have any comments on— have you received any applications? Are you soliciting the community? Do you need help? Do we?"},{"start":8256663,"end":8329141,"speaker":"D","text":"Yes. I mean, that sums it up. Yes, it's all that. We've been unsuccessful with some of the reach-outs that we've done with the business community member, but I will go back to what VPS said, and we also are going to utilize those opportunities when we're speaking to the community, uh, over the course of the next couple of months to, uh, try and find our positions. I put together this quick chart. I'll actually make it bigger so it's easier to see. Uh, the ones in green are, are current members with expiring terms. The ones in yellow are now open positions as of this meeting. And unless Olivia tells me different, I think I did this correctly with all the positions on here. Uh, the vacancy on number 10 showing that, uh, if everyone was still here, we'd have 10 people on the 7-person, uh, minimum committee. Uh, and looking forward to filling these. Obviously, we've done no outreach on number 3 and number 9 as one was officialized of last night, and one was official as of Saturday or Sunday, Carl. I don't remember when—"},{"start":8329141,"end":8329718,"speaker":"A","text":"few days ago—"},{"start":8329718,"end":8382707,"speaker":"D","text":"forwarded that email. Uh, so we do have to take that into account. Um, and while we're discussing community outreach and, uh, going to be talking to, uh, various communities around Redwood City, uh, it'll be an appropriate time to also bring this up as well over the course of the next couple of months. Um, if this works— so when we, uh, on this slide, uh, a little bit hard to see, uh, from over here, uh, I can't make it bigger, uh, but right now here are the required memberships: business organizations, senior citizens organization, taxpayers organization, parent guardian with child enrolled in the district. We currently have 4 of those and we only require Uh, parent guardian with child enrolled in the district and active in PTA, PTO. We lost that person."},{"start":8382980,"end":8395039,"speaker":"A","text":"You can put me down for that. I have an official role on the PTO. Okay, I'm on the org chart anyway, so, uh, you can, you can go from 0 to 1, Rick. You feel good tonight. Hey, we filled one."},{"start":8395087,"end":8416915,"speaker":"D","text":"Hey, let's celebrate. So that takes 4 to 3 on the other one. And then we still have the business organization that we will recruit through this process going forward. Uh, well, I think it's— we don't need to fill another position, uh, with Carl, you providing that role of PTO."},{"start":8416915,"end":8432089,"speaker":"A","text":"Take one for the team. Thank you. Um, and when you do that community outreach, I think that's a great opportunity to share with the community how glamorous it is to be a member of this committee committee and all the perks that come with it."},{"start":8433399,"end":8458241,"speaker":"D","text":"Well, yeah, I, I think in some ways, Carl, you're not lying there. But, um, you know, it'll— it will be when we're talking about future projects and all that, that they can be involved in, uh, that project from inception to, to end and then be able to report out with it. So, um, I, I don't expect lines out the door to sign up, but hopefully we can get a couple, uh, or at least one, uh, that meets that requirement for this at this time."},{"start":8458531,"end":8501803,"speaker":"A","text":"I mean, the district is about to spend $90 million of the tax taxpayers' money. You would think there'd be some folks out there who would want to provide some oversight. So I'm sure we can find them now that things are ramping up on Measure S. Okay, thank you. Any discussion or questions on the membership topic? We will have another meeting before the June time when two of the terms are expiring. Okay, um, that takes us to what was 5.9 now. Uh, Carl, you were leading, I think, the website committee. Is there any— do you have anything to report out on that topic tonight?"},{"start":8502011,"end":8532975,"speaker":"C","text":"No updates. Uh, I guess one action item that we had requested at the last meeting was that the CBOC website, not just the agenda, be a quick link. And so it just— you have that ability to find it. Um, I just looked and I think I just saw the agenda, but I— Yeah, so that would be the, you know, one small comment. But, you know, the search bar, you can look up CBOC and find the CBOC website. So we got it. Thank you."},{"start":8535526,"end":8668362,"speaker":"A","text":"Okay, any, uh, anything else on the website topic That was our last topic for tonight. We're going to go into 5.11. We'll first start with the question of agenda items that any of the committee members would like to see on the next meeting. I do have one here that we discussed, which is the DWK coming and describing their view of the independent counsel situation. We have our usual check-ins. Is there anything else that someone is advocating for on the agenda for next time? Should have an architect by then. And we could add, if the Van Pelt crew is ready to bring some of your CBOC best practices and worst practices examples goals. If you're ready for that, and when we schedule our next meeting, it would be great to, to put that on the agenda. Anything else on that topic? Okay, let's go to dates then. So we've got 3 more meetings in this calendar year. We've got a meeting to cover the first, or whatever you call all the— but the basically the January to March. So we do need to have another meeting between now and the summer. And then we have a meeting in the summer, and then we have a— I guess we have 3 more meetings. Did I say— was there 3 more? Yeah, 3 more. So we can have Olivia send out some proposed dates. But Um, oh, okay, sorry, can't see from over here. You guys need to add another monitor in this room, some, some of your remaining bond funds. Um, okay, 9th. Okay, great, 9th or 16th. Um, any, any preference from the committee on May 9th versus 16th?"},{"start":8672326,"end":8672406,"speaker":"C","text":"You—"},{"start":8674251,"end":8745647,"speaker":"A","text":"oh, I do have a conflict on the 9th. It's actually the school celebration of cultures. So if we can do the 16th, um, that would be awesome. Okay, May 16th, Olivia. And then, um, your next one is the 22nd or the 29th of August. Anybody have summer conflicts or travel? Okay, so we're shooting for the 29th of August. Anybody have a problem there? Okay, we'll book that. Great. And then, um, Um, December 5th. I'm sure you've all made your plans for December, so check December 5th on your calendars and see if that works. Any conflicts, or we'll just tentatively go ahead and book, um, the 5th of December then. Thank you, Rick, for getting those dates up."},{"start":8745695,"end":8755783,"speaker":"D","text":"We can always talk about the December 5th one. I just wanted to avoid deployed November this year because we run into a lot of issues in November. Yeah, uh, between district requirements and then—"},{"start":8756922,"end":8758797,"speaker":"A","text":"ah, I did think of something going back one."},{"start":8758877,"end":8766940,"speaker":"D","text":"I'm sorry, I think we cut you off. December issues with winter break and other reporting that goes on during that time period as well."},{"start":8767501,"end":8781032,"speaker":"A","text":"Uh, the audit report, the bond audit, um, that— what's the status? And, uh, I think we need that on the next meeting agenda then to have the bond auditor come in and present the findings for the last fiscal school year, correct?"},{"start":8781931,"end":8799443,"speaker":"D","text":"Uh, yes, uh, he will come to the next meeting. The bond audit will be submitted, uh, Monday or Tuesday of next week to the state, meeting the statutory deadline. Uh, and I hate to break the suspense, but there are zero findings, um, in Measure S or Measure T for '22-'23."},{"start":8801449,"end":8812859,"speaker":"A","text":"Got it. Okay, so we'll have that. Um, will that get sent out to the CBOC members? Uh, when it issues, or, or can, can we request that you send it around?"},{"start":8813244,"end":8815795,"speaker":"D","text":"Yeah, after we— after it's issued by the auditor, we can send it."},{"start":8815955,"end":8839845,"speaker":"A","text":"Yeah. Okay, great. There'll be plenty of time to review it before our May meeting. Um, anything else on agenda topics or dates? If not, do we have a motion to adjourn the meeting? Motion to adjourn. Motion. Second from J— Paul. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The meeting is adjourned. Thank you, everyone."}]}